


A Little Discovery

by ADSDChibi



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: ABDL, Age Regression/De-Aging, CG!Leon, CG!Raihan, Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Diapers, Diapers are also common to find and called "Travel Pants", Dyslexic Hop, Dyslexic Raihan, F/F, Family Drama, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hop is affection and touch starved, Leon is a good big brother okay?, Little!Hop, Littles Are Known, M/M, Non-Sexual Age Play, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Repressed Memories, because Traveling in the wild? No toilets are available so thats more convenient, beta reading? Whose she?, cgl
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:27:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 30,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22762432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ADSDChibi/pseuds/ADSDChibi
Summary: Alone? Hop was used to it, unfortunately, sitting in his Hotel room by himself playing with blocks and his Wooloo stuffie.  But maybe his brother would help him with that?
Relationships: Dande | Leon & Hop, Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan, Rurina | Nessa/Sonia
Comments: 87
Kudos: 316





	1. Lonely Feelings

**Author's Note:**

> If you are not into Age-Play, ABDL or anything related to it please do not send hate, thank you.

_Click, Clank_

Hop carefully set one block on top of the other in his Hotel room, the past months have just been an utter nightmare for him, what with losing in the Semi-Finals to becoming partners Zamazenta and deciding on becoming a professor. He barely spent time at home anymore... not that his family noticed, Leon, even after losing his title, threw himself right into taking over Rose tower and repurposing it into the battle tower and Hop? well, he wasn't the Golden son Leon, so the rest of his family brushed his absence off with ease. Right now Hop sat in the comfort and safety of his room, utterly alone to indulge himself into little space, a very welcomed break, especially after he had burst into tears from overload and Sonia gave him a month and a half off for rest which he accepted. With a quick packing of things back home, the boy was out the door and roughing it out in the Wild Area and routes, until he needed a place to shower and a comfortable space to do what he needed to do desperately. So here he was, very much enjoying hearing the soft crinkling of the Wooloo printed Nappies ring into his ears as he chewed and suckled on his pacifier, looking at his block tower he worked so hard on, happily clapping for himself.

He hadn't dared told his family about his being a little, there was no reason to ostracize himself to his family more and especially cause distancing between him and his big brother. But sometimes... More so recently, the boy just wanted to be cuddled and doted on like a baby and it hurt him that he had to keep this harmless desire to himself. As for why he slipped more and more? Part of him assumed it was because he was around Leon more since the Gym Challenge and he desperately wanted to spend time with his big brother. But instead, he was sitting here utterly alone in his Hotel room, playing with blocks. 

Alone... Hop let out a soft sniffle at the word echoing tauntingly in his head, hugging his stuffie close to himself to try and comfort himself with a "hug". On his bed, his phone buzzed, someone was texting him? Sitting up, Hop went and pulled the phone off the bedside table and looked at it.

**Lee: Hey, been looking all over Galar for you, mum says you haven't been home for at least 2 weeks and I just talked to Gloria who Told me you're at the Budew Drop Inn in Motostoke... Are you free to see me right now?**

Tensing up Hop thought of many excuses or reasons to tell him he couldn't... but on the other hand, Leon seemed like he was worried for him, or was worried he was living in the Hotel room...

**Hop: I haven't been in the Hotel for 2 weeks if you're worried about an expensive bill Lee...**

Hop winced at how... douchey that came off and went to type another response, but saw Leon was typing already.

**Leon: Never said you were, I'm just worried you left without telling any of the family little bro... So...Are you free to see me?**

The boy didn't even think about his current attire, his big brother was taking time off to see him.

**Hop: Yes, I'll be down there in about 15!**

Getting up, Hop began to put on his usual attire in a flash, but his trousers felt a little... off. Looking himself in the mirror, he realized why this was.

"Sonnuva..." he groaned, the nappy was making his trousers fit weirdly, making it obvious he was in the thick garment, to begin with. 

"These... aren't exactly cheap nappies... taking it off might ruin the tapes" Hop mumbled to himself, head tilting to think of a solution. Eyes scanning the bed, he thought of any piece of clothing that could cover at least the bulk. What he spotted was one of Leon's hoodies, which he had borrowed when doing laundry and had no PJs to wear to bed. Picking up the soft article of clothing, Hop slipped it over his head, a bit too easily as it practically fell onto him and damn did it do the trick. It went halfway down his thighs and the sleeves past his hands. 

"Hhhhhhh" looking in the mirror was a mistake, only serving to make him feel even smaller than he felt in it. Looking at his lanyard where the pacifier was clipped, Hop popped it into his mouth as he gathered up his phone and a few things, letting himself have just a bit more little time to get it out of his system before he opened the door and locking it behind him with his keycard, sucking on the Pacifier on his way to the elevator and only pulling it out to hide under the hoodie when he waited for it to get the first level. 

_Ding!_

Stepping out of the elevator, he looked around curiously, spotting sitting in one of the chairs, in a red jacket and black jeans, was his brother. Taking a deep breath, Hop smiled, calling out to his brother with a wave.

"Lee!" Leon turned to see Hop making way to him and smiled. He stood up just as the younger brother got to him.

"Hm, Is that one of my old Hoodies?" Leon asked playfully of his brother whose cheeks burned.

"I-It's cold and it's the only clean warm item I have on me" he convinced of him. Humming thoughtfully, Leon's smile did drop a little.

"Have you been taking care of yourself Hop? and eating?" Leon questioned looking him over, Hop looked down with a blush.

"Bro I learned how to rough it out during the gym challenge didn't I?" he asked him with a weak smile. Arms crossed, Leon did nod with a hum.

"You're right, you didn't always get a nice cozy hotel during it and had to camp under the stars and cook outside, but as a big brother, I do worry about my baby brother too" hearing Leon casually use the term "baby brother" did something to Hop as his cheeks flushed. The boy craved to hear his brother call him that directly, maybe while hugging him too? Hop shuddered, forcing the thoughts down, right now was big boy time! Leon's hand pressed against Hop's back gently.

"Come on, let's get some fresh air Hop..." with a soft volume, the older male walked, leading his brother out. There was a temptation from Hop, to hold his big brother's hand and let him lead him.

 _"Stop thinking about yourself dammit"_ Hop thought bitterly to himself. The cold air hit like a rock on the boy's face who sunk his head into the hoodie.

"It is chilly out" Leon laughed when he saw Hop's reaction. They continued their walk in a peaceful silence until they were a good far distance from the Hotel and down by the river stream that passed through the city, both sitting at the bench.

"Mum, Grandma, and Grandpa told me they barely see you anymore since you started apprenticing under Sonia, and Sonia told me she gave you a month and a half off because you had a breakdown at her lab" Leon began, getting to the point. Hop could only tense up at his brother's long stare, waiting for some kind of answer from him.

"D-Do they even care they don't see me often?" he didn't mean to blurt it out, evident when he covered his mouth, looking mortified. Wide-eyed and mouth agape, Leon stared at his little brother, he didn't think that about their folks...right?

"Hop...why would you say something like that about mum and our grandparents?" the tone was one of shock and horror. Hop gripped at the hoodie, chewing on his lower lip, staring at his feet.

"I... I think it's a fair question for me to ask Lee" now he wasn't looking at his brother, but Leon's eyes were burning a hole into his head at this point. He didn't know, did he? Hop fiddled with the hem of his hoodie, still not looking at his big brother.

"Lee... do...do you really think I'm the one who decided to dedicate all photos in the house to just you?" Hop's voice was barely audible, like a fading whisper.

"Whenever there's company, even my friends... they talk like you're the only son or grandson... the only proof there is that I live there is my bedroom, and even that then..." Hop didn't mean to but he let out soft sniffles, tears building up in his eyes. He could only imagine how pissed off his brother was right now for him having the audacity to bring up their blatant favoritism, shouting at him that he was ungrateful.

Leon could only stare at his brother in shock... He always found it odd how his family never talked about Hop's achievements, but... Not once did he consider or think that they ignored him to his friends. His heart cracked hearing those thinly veiled little sobs coming from his little brother.

"Hop... Oh, sweetie..." Reaching his arms out, he pulled Hop close to him and into a tight hug, pressing the boy's face into his chest. Trembling, Hop latched onto Leon and began to just bawl into his brother's chest. The gentle head pats and back rubs were a soothing drug for the boy who curled up closer to Leon, refusing to let go.

"Was...Was I a mistake? did they even want me to begin with?" Hop whimpered to his brother.

"I'm sorry I didn't do anything good for them"

"Hey, now none of that" Leon tilted his brother's head up, wiping the boy's eyes with his thumbs.

"You have done amazing things little brother, you helped stop the second coming of the Darkest day, helped stop Swordward and Shielbert's plans and the Pokemon they had on a rampage and became partners with one of the legendary heroes" Hop looked at his brother through his tears, futilely wiping at them with soft hiccups. That wouldn't do, so doing the one thing he knew would help calm him down, Leon pressed his lips to hop's Forehead, hugging him closer.

"You're my little brother too Hop, even if I don't say it often, I do love you and am proud of you" hiccupping, Hop hugged his brother tightly while taking a deep breath, he wanted to stay like this just a little longer.

"I love you too Big brother" smiling, Leon continued rubbing and patting Hop's back, letting his brother hug him. He heard soft crinkling??? It made him blink curiously. Smiling, he looked at Hop.

"Why don't we get lunch after you're calm? My treat" he offered sweetly to him. Hop nodded into his chest, but didn't let go of him.

"Just three more minutes??" Hop asked softly of him.

"Three more minutes and we'll go eat"


	2. Discovered

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art at the End of the chapter.

The cafe Leon chose was serene with it's polite and quiet patrons and sweet smells of coffees and pastries. Hop was happily munching on his toast, which had a fried egg on it. There was something about him today that was giving Leon strange vibes. Well, no, Hop's beeing giving him strange vibes for a while now. He was more clingy than Leon remembered him being, hugging him for longer and just trying to stay closer to Leon in general. There wasn't quite anything wrong with this and was a nice feeling, but it wasn't something Leon was used to. Humming, Leon watched his brother, seeing if he could pick up on any clues, thinking.

Feeling his brother's eyes on him, Hop stopped eating, his cheeks going pink, was his eating obnoxious or slobby looking?

"You're fine Hop, I'm just thinking and staring off into space" Leon reassured when he noticed how self-conscious he was making his brother. Hop took his time to eat after that. With the hoodie angling down, Leon did spot the lanyard around his brother's neck.

"Did Sonia give you an ID for the lab?" Hop blinked at the question, before realizing why Leon asked him that, he spotted his Eevee evolution lanyard.

"Y-Yes!" Leon flinched a bit at how forcefully his brother responded, but it confirmed Hop was acting off.

"That's cool, after what happened with her last one, what working for Swordward and Shielbert, an ID would be good to have to access things" Leon stated with a smile, he'd just let his brother's anxiety to lower instead of making it worse. 

"How's working as King of the Battle Tower been working out?" Hop inquired after taking a drink of his water, he did notice his brother was less tired than he had been as Champion.

"It's great! while I enjoyed my time as Champion, I love teaching and helping trainers reach their full potential and thrive!" Leon was so excited when he spoke to his brother, which made Hop smile as he listened to him. Leon began to go into a ramble about Pokemon and utilizing teams and abilities perfectly and it began to all buzz together to Hop who pressed his legs together tightly.

"Ah... I'm sorry Lee, but I gotta go to the po-bathroom" Inwardly, Hop cursed himself for almost using the infantile term for it. 

"Oh, go ahead, no need to have an accident because I'm talking your ear off" face red at Leon's response, Hop stood up and made way to the restrooms, the nappy he was in crinkling, much louder in his ears than to the patrons of the restaurant or his brother, which only served to make him quicken his steps. One eyebrow quirked at the behavior, Leon watch while tenderly plucking a strawberry from his pancake to pop into his mouth. Humming, Leon began to try and sort out his brother's behavior.

"A little clingy, more sensitive than usual, embarrassed at questions and being looked at...Hm... Plus what he said about back home... I don't like that one bit... Oh... affection and attention-starved maybe??" Leon mumbled, frowning. He ate in silence, glancing up to see if his brother was returning once every five minutes.

After doing it the sixth time, Leon got worried. Was his little brother okay?? Thirty minutes was too long for a restroom break. Half standing from his seat, Leon waved down a server.

"I have to check on who I was eating with, Here's my card until I come back" putting his ID into their hand, Leon stood up and weaved quickly through the tables and crowds to get to the restroom. With a deep breath and bracing himself, Leon pushed the door open to a surprisingly empty restroom. Walking up the rows of stalls, he noticed all but one were open. 

"Hop...??? Are you in here?" Leon called out carefully. He continued to scan the bathroom until his ears picked up very choked back sobs and whimpers that sounded exactly like Hop when he was distressed. It was coming from the same closed stall.

"Hop? Are you okay?" concern thickly wrapped in Leon's voice as he gently tapped on the stall. Now he heard Hop forcing himself to be quiet, sniffling and coughing he was holding back, it just served to make Leon frown.

"Hop...Please come out and talk to me, I'm starting to really get worried about you little brother..." the plea was gentle, knowing if he got aggressive or forceful, it would end up terrifying the younger brother, possibly even to the point he'd lie about what was going on. For a moment, it went unnervingly silent, the sniffles, whimpering, all of it mute, but then...

_Click._

The stall door pushed open, Hop came out with the collar of the hoodie just under his nose, the boy looking at his brother with bloodshot and wet eyes. Letting out a relieved sigh, Leon looked at his brother, arms crossed.

"You had me worried Kiddo, I thought something happened to you... Can you tell me why you were crying?" he asked. Sinking into the Hoodie more, the boy whimpered.

"'idn't...'idn't make to the potty... head fuzzy..." the childish tone and words that sounded like he was saying them behind something in his mouth didn't go unnoticed.

"You didn't get to the toilet in time??" examining his trousers, Leon didn't see them look any darker on the inner legs and without much thought, began to lift the hoodie to see if Mabey it was a small accident. Immediately, Hop tensed up but did begin to push the hoodie's hem down with more force than Leon was using to lift it, shouting "NO" at his brother. There was an audible, wet "pop" when he did that, but Leon jumped back at the demand.

"Hop...I'm just trying to see the damage, you said you had an accident, It's not foul-smelling in here and your trousers aren't drenched, I just need to see if this can be hidden or not okay?" he asked, hands up to show he was harmless, not that that stopped Hop from whimper and burying his face further into the hoodie.

"Dun wan 'ou too, dun wan 'ou mad at me" 

"Mad at you?? I promise I won't get mad, but I will get cross if you keep fighting and pushing me away young man" now he had to get stern with Hop, firmly taking one of his hands into his own as he knelt down and with his free hand, lifted the Hem all the way up despite the now loud pleas and protests from the boy.

"What...???" One blink, two blinks, three, possibly over ten blinks Leon did when he saw under the hoodie, and underneath his brother's jeans, was some obvious bulking around his hips and pelvis, peeking out the top of them a light blue waistband.

"Hop...Are...Did you pee into a Nappy?" surely Hop didn't have medical problems that he was made unaware of right? If that was the case... Oh, his family better have a **damn good** reason for **not** telling him then. Unfortunately, Leon's question didn't sound as neutral to Hop as it did Leon, and the boy's soft whimpering soon turned into heartbroken bawls and blubbered apologies.

"Weh!!!" Jumping to his feet now the man waved his hands frantically, panicking from the sudden fit.

"H-Hop! It's okay! It's okay! I'm just concerned, I promise that's all!" he stammered out, hoping to reason and talk his brother into calming down. Now that he could look down the hoodie, that's when he spotted what was clipped onto the lanyard, which was a little blue pacifier.

That's when the puzzle began to twist and click in the man's head, eyes widening as the lightbulb finally went off. Right now, he wasn't talking to Hop the Pokemon trainer, assistant to the Professor, and his little brother, instead, Leon was dealing with a very sensitive and terrified little boy who didn't have anyone to take care of him. Upon the realization, Leon's chest swelled and his parental and big brother instincts took over. Reaching his hand out, the man took Hop's pacifier and pressed it to his mouth tenderly, which Hop accepted with no hesitation, suckling on it in an attempt to self soothe. Feeling small tugs and smoothings of the hoodie, Hop was staring at his own feet through blurry eyes, not seeing his brother reach into his jacket pocket and dig around for something. There was now light patting on the top of his head, and a very low and soothing hum coming from Leon.

"Do you think you can be a brave boy and look up at your big brother Hoppip?" Leon's soft request had Hop doing exactly what was asked of him, along with an occasional hiccup and sniff. A little yellow handkerchief dabbed at his eyes, wiping away the tears before a kleenex was held to his nose, which he blew into. 

Tossing the kleenex into the door side trash bin, Leon stood back up fully, looking at Hop, who did seem so much smaller to him with that soother and the little tears. Wordlessly, he held his arms out to offer Hop a hug. There was a hesitance from his brother, who looked scared it was a prank, but Leon was patient. Looking up at Leon again, then at his arms, Hop went and pressed himself against Leon, forehead resting on his chest. Arms coiled around the boy's arms and waist in a protective and loving embrace which he melted into, ear resting comfortably against his chest, listening to Leon's heartbeat, earning a mild chuckle from the man.

"You're safe little one, big brother's right here" the words made him tear up just a little, but he sucked on his pacifier in a lulled manner, staying in the warm embrace.

Big brother was here, and that alone was comforting for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and the art to go with it!


	3. Story Time, Nap Time, and Chat Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raihan's a very good friend, helping Leon process his feelings about what he learned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mentions of Diaper usage.

Surprisingly, paying for lunch and getting out of the restaurant with Hop in his headspace was much easier than Leon expected, Hop merely held onto his hand, hoodie pulled over his mouth. Getting back to the hotel held no trouble and before Leon knew, he was standing at the room his brother rented, sliding the keycard into the slot.

Leon was greeted to the state of the room Hop had left it in before coming down to meet him. The tower of Blocks sitting near the left side of the bed closest to the window, ten Pokemon stuffies sitting around the blocks and on the bed, a couple of empty and clean baby bottles on the small kitchen counter, a fluffy white onesie that looked homemade from an adult's sweater, and the pack of diapers sitting on the chair near the bathroom, the supplies to change with it. Honestly? Leon was surprised, yes, Hop was a little as he discovered barely an hour ago, but he didn't know the full extent. Soft tugging on his hand pulled him out of his thoughts, Hop was shuffling his feet, eyes focusing on the floor.

"Big brother upset???" Hop sounded nervous and almost... expectant? Of him having a negative reaction to everything.

"Upset? No, no sweetie, I'm just surprised" watching Hop look up at him, Leon smiled a little.

"Hop, how old are you right now?" It was adorable watching the gears turn in his head as his fingers fiddled about. Hop let out a soft "ah!" before Holding up two fingers to him. Odd, two-year-olds didn't usually drink from bottles, but... thinking on it, if Leon was right on what he was assuming, Hop probably didn't want to be left in an even more vulnerable state all alone. Taking his hands, Leon began to usher Hop to the bathroom, grabbing the bag of changing supplies on the chair.

"Do you think you can tell your big brother how long you've been turning two while he changes you?" he didn't miss the surprised, almost glowing look on the boy's face who vigorously nodded to him. Smiling, Leon sat him down on the open toilet, starting to undo and unzip his pants, slipping them down to his ankles. he saw the very faded and blurred prints on the nappy and hummed in amusement. Pinching at the tapes, Leon pulled them from the diaper.

"So when did you first turn two?" Leon asked, starting on changing his brother.

"I turned-ed two abfter we went-ed to 'scue you from 'ose!" Hop chattered to Leon. It took Leon a moment to translate what Hop said, which he did blink.

"Hop...Did you say you turned two after you and Gloria all came to save me from Rose?" he asked slowly.

"Uh-Huh!!! got super-duper scared and sad, then head got all fuzzy and woke-ed up wif my fumb and hugging Wooly!" now that's a name Leon hadn't heard in a long time. He remembered Wooly very well, he had been the one to gift the stuffie to Hop when he was really little.

"Is it the same Wooly I got you?" Leon gently asked, cleaning him up.

"Uh-Huh! I take good-good care of 'em!" Hop sounded proud of himself, wiggling cutely while his brother applied powder. If Hop had first gone into headspace the night of the Semi-Finals, that was a good half a year ago and... that stung quite a bit to hear, Hop should have felt comfortable enough to come and talk to Leon about it, but... Leon had to berate himself, his duties as Champion made him distant to his little brother, but that was no longer an excuse, even now, with that title no longer in his possession, he was still far more focused on Galar and the trainers rather than his own family. It truly was a wonder how his brother even liked being around such a negligent older brother, until Leon remembered what Hop had said about the family's blatant favoritism towards Leon...

Was... Was Leon the only one who treated his brother as an individual, the only one in the family that showed any care to him? Just how used to being ignored and alone was his brother? The thoughts swirled in the man's head, almost taunting him, but he was going to force them down, His little... No, his baby brother needed him now and he wasn't going to let him down again. Applying the baby powder to prevent rashes, Leon began to finish changing his brother by pulling the front of the diaper up and securing the tapes. He finished with tossing the nappy into the bin, closing it. 

Feeling the diaper nice and snug, even with his bouncing in his seat, Hop smiled and held his arms up to Leon. Leon couldn't help but snort in amusement and smile at him, picking his brother up with relative ease, patting Hop's back. Lurching forward, Hop wrapped both arms around his big brother's shoulders and smooshed their cheeks together.

"You're an affectionate little Budew aren't you?" he asked, only to get innocent and precious giggles out of his brother. Taking him to the bed, He sat down, setting Hop on his lap.

"Is there anything special you want to do Hoppip?" Leon watched the boy shyly reached for his backpack, pulling out a small stack of children's picture books. He didn't see his face, but Leon could tell he was blushing.

"Story for naptime??" he asked innocently of Leon, in a tone that again, expected to be turned down. Looking at the time on his phone, Leon saw it was a typical "nap time hour" for little ones, so he picked one of the books and Laidback on the bed with his brother. Hop reached over and took Wooly off the pillow, nuzzling against his brother.

"Did you want to read along with me?" Leon asked him softly. Hop looked down, blushing.

"Words hard, even when I'mma big boy" he sounded rather ashamed of himself. Curious...

"How so?"

"'Verything is jumbly-wumbly words and I feels stupid cause I dunno how to read well" Hop sounded so sad when he told him like he was going to be berated. Hearing him say that only made Leon feel worse, remembering times their mum or grandparents would tell him about his brother's atrocious English grades and how humiliated the boy looked about it. But "Jumbly words" is exactly how Raihan explained his dyslexia to him and the others before, making Leon wonder if the adults in their life ever considered Hop having it. Leon pulled him a little closer, stroking his back.

"None of this feeling stupid talk okay? you're a bright little boy and Sonia always tells me how good and smart of a helper you are to her" he stated, feeling a small nod from Hop. Feeling him resettle into his arms, Leon opened a book that had a Gengar climbing a castle tower with a Clefairy with a princess crown on the cover. Leon began to read to his brother, who had pulled his paci up and it rested in his mouth and occasionally pointed at the photos and made soft cooing noises at them. They became less frequent with more little yawns before he felt Hop's weight fully pressing into his side with calm and even breaths. Fingers gingerly stroked Hop's arm while Leon pulled his phone out from his pocket putting it on mute. Frowning, he opened up his chat app and to his and Raihan's DMs.

**KingoftheBattleTower: Hey Rai, you on?**

**DesertDragonPrince:: What up?**

**KingoftheBattleTower: Can I ask you to meet up with Me and Hop tomorrow? We're hanging out today and he told me about how he struggles reading because words are "Jumbled up" to him.**

**DesertDragonPrince:: :O You want me to see if he needs to go to a professional?**

**KingoftheBattleTower: If it's not too much, I'm spiraling so bad right now from everything I learned...**

**DesertDragonPrince:: Do you wanna talk about it on here or in person later?**

Leon thought about the offer, turning to look down at Hop's sleeping form. On one hand, he felt like he'd be breaking the boy's trust, on the other... this wasn't weird considering the shit he saw online or even in person when he was Champion. Raihan wouldn't get weirded out hopefully.

**KingoftheBattleTower: Please talk with me on here, if I leave my baby brother alone like this I'll feel like a right piece of shit.**

**DesertDragonPrince:: Oof, some heavy truth bombs get dropped today?**

**KingoftheBattleTower: My brother's a very affection deprived and sensitive little as a result of Family neglect for starters.**

**DesertDragonPrince:: ... Oh, shit, please tell me you didn't yell at the lil guy and cause him to have a meltdown, I will come down there and kick your ass if you did.**

Leon let out a huff- laugh at that, Raihan was a very good older brother figure in public, thankfully that didn't falter just because of His brother's headspace.

**KingoftheBattleTower: No, I did get a little firm with him before I found out because he was fighting me about checking to see if he had wet himself after telling me he had an accident. Once it clicked what was going on I pretty much acted on instinct. Right now it's nap time and I'm currently half a pillow and Teddyursa bear for a sleeping baby boy as we speak.**

**DesertDragonPrince: That sounds fuckin' adorable mate, but what about this made you depressed? did he go into the neglected part or are you assuming that's what it is?**

**KingoftheBattleTower: Hop flat out thinks the rest of our family doesn't give two shits about him and I'm starting to conclude that myself, like the dyslexia thing and how Mum and our grandparents always had to rant about how utter shite Hop's English grades were but no one ever thought to consider that he might have a learning disability and I'm currently feeling like the shittiest brother in the world for not being around him more often after I lost my title.**

**DesertDragonPrince: That is pretty bad... But... I think what matters most right now? Is that you're showing that you're not abandoning him when he's in this state of vulnerability. You could have reacted like a complete asshole and shouted and degraded him for the headspace and made shit even worse. You're not a bad brother mate, you just made mistakes.**

Just made mistakes... That is what Leon did, isn't it? He loved his little brother, but he rarely did show it. Maybe if he had taken more interest in his little brother, Hop wouldn't feel the need to regress to feel safe. But Raihan was right, he's here now and Leon was more than willing to shower the boy with the much-needed attention and affection he missed out on. Feeling his eyes sting and watching his vision become blurred, Leon blinked, vision returning crystal clear. Setting the phone down, he wiped at his eyes, seeing they were tears, when did he start crying? Chuckling, he cleaned them up with a smile, picking the phone back up.

**KingoftheBattleTower: Thanks Rai... that really did help.**

**DesertDragonPrince: Anytime Champ <3 Anyway, you tend to your baby brother, I'm heading to the gym to work out.**

**KingoftheBattleTower: Take care Rai, talk to you later.**

Like that he finished the conversation, setting his phone down and carefully turning so as not to wake his brother up. Settling down next to him, Leon draped his arm over Hop, chin resting on his head and closing his eyes to drift off into sleep himself. He would talk to Hop when he was a big boy again and figure all this out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed Chapter 3 and the artwork!


	4. Big boy Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nap time is over and Hop's back to his senses, now's the best time for him and Leon to have a talk.

"Mnh..." eyes fluttering, Hop began to stir. He would have sat up, but something weighed him down. He gave a confused croon, eyes picking up that he was snuggled up, face to chest with his big brother. Now he began to remember what happened. When he had gone to the bathroom back at the restaurant, He had barely gotten his trousers off before his bladder feeling the pressure being removed, just let go on him. Despite the relief he felt, Hop had understandably, began crying. He regressed when he put his pacifier in to try and quiet down his crying. 

He also recalled just how calm and caring his big brother had been to him. It... It felt nice. Did Leon not mind his being a little then??? Or was he just taking the path of least resistance because they were in public? He desperately was hoping that his big brother didn't mind it. His movements and waking up seemed to stir his brother's sleep.

"Mm...You up Hop?" Leon asked him in a half-awake daze. Hop chewed his lip, seriously contemplating pretending to be a little... but his conscience shut that down.

"'M awake Lee" He watched Leon sit up tiredly, rubbing at his eye.

"Wait... How old are you right now??" he asked mid eye rub.

"I'm...I'm a big boy right now big brother" Hop admitted. Leon nodded to him, stretching.

"Okay...Are you okay to talk to me about all of this?" Leon's voice was gentle but it didn't stop Hop from tensing up still.

"Am...Are you...Are you disgusted or mad at me?" nerves got the better of the boy as he stumbled over the words. He couldn't handle the possibility of this pushing Leon away. Already mum found one of his bottles which he said he used for his baby Pokemon and remembering her words "That's alright then as long as it's not you, I raised you to be independent after all". He also remembered having to hide away most of his toys in storage balls and lie about donating them, since his grandparents and mom talked about doing it while cleaning. 

"Hop... Hey... come on back to your senses buddy" Leon's words snapped him out of his thoughts, hand on his shoulder. Taking a deep breath and blinking, Hop didn't realize he was choking and tearing up. Leon sighed in relief, sitting closer to Hop, wrapping an arm around him.

"I'm not mad or disgusted with you, I was surprised yeah, but I'm not going to abandon you, especially with you having regressive episodes, okay?" he soothed, gently pulling Hop closer to him, kissing the boy on the side of his head. Leaning closer, Hop nodded to him, giving a weak smile.

"Thanks, big bro..." 

"Anytime, now... Do you think you can brave talking to Big brother about all of this?" deep inhale, and long exhale, Hop looked at him.

"Yeah... where do you want me to start..?"

"I guess, how do you feel about your place in the family to start" of course he wanted to get right into the hardest part of it. Deep breath again, Hop let out a sigh.

"I... I feel like I wasn't even a planned pregnancy and everyone in the family just tolerates my existence at best" staring at Hop, Leon never... thought about it like that...

"I mean... maybe if Mum planned for me, she'd be more excited about me right? or did she want a daughter instead of a second son and is disappointed she didn't get that... either way, I don't... feel wanted by them, big brother and they only took care of me out of obligation" by now Hop brought his knees up, resting his chin on them.

"I'm not... bad for feeling that way, am I? aside from shaming me and making me feel really dumb when I did bad in school, they just kind of... ignored me mostly, does it make me selfish that I wish they treated me like they do you?" The quiet, uneasy tone had Leon looking at his brother with a blank expression, mouth closed in a tight line shape. Again, his brother was putting things into a perspective that was making him feel worse for not being around more often.

 _"This isn't about you Leon, stop acting like it is"_ He looked back at his brother, arms going around him as he pulled him onto his lap, holding him close.

"No... you're not bad for having those thoughts and feeling that way Little one" Leon was never raised spoilt rotten, so there'd be no reason for Hop to make any of this up, even if maybe it wasn't as bad as the boy thought, something was going on. His little brother's head rested against his shoulder and he gripped onto his T-Shirt tightly with both hands, Leon's own hand gently rubbed his back up and down in a soothing manner. They stayed like that for what felt like hours.

"Hop, tomorrow? I want you and Raihan to talk to each other okay?" Leon could feel the quizzical look on his brother's face.

"Raihan's got Dyslexia and when you were regressed, you mentioned words being jumbled even when you were a big boy, I just want to see if you need to get diagnosed for something okay?"

"I... you don't think I'm just stupid?" Leon frowned at that, giving his brother a light smack on the thigh. Hop jolted a little out of surprise, it didn't hurt at all, but he wasn't expecting it. Pulling his brother back, Leon held him up under his arms so they were face to face with each other. He gave his brother a stern look.

"Hop, I **_do not_** want to hear you putting yourself down anymore, You're not stupid, bad, or any of that okay?" his words and tone were firm. Eyes glistening and cheeks burning red, Hop looked down before he nodded to him.

"Good, I'd rather take care of a happy little one then a scared and sad one" now that got Hop looking up at Leon in surprise, the man smiling at him.

"I...You're...You want to??" Was he dreaming? Leon's face pointed downwards as he laughed at the reaction.

"What? You think your big brother is mean enough to abandon his brother when he's being a baby?" the response Leon got in return was being knocked onto his back on the bed, Hop hugging him around the shoulders, almost in tears, thanking him. It only made him laugh a little harder, holding onto Hop as they laid on the bed. 

It felt good, being like this.


	5. Raihan

A finger gingerly swiped the screen of the phone, yesterday's conversation right in front of his face. He didn't know what to make of the whole thing, but hearing Hop had regressive episodes..? Honestly, Raihan suspected something was up with the kid, the way he talked about his brother, even going as far as to mimic his movements in the finals, it all reminded him of little kids mimicking their parents and how much they idolized them. Honestly, he found it rather cute Leon had a brother that adored him that much. At least, until he put together more clues than just what Leon told him.

When they were much younger, Hop, just a toddler, would always be seen holding Leon's hand, eyes full of wonder. "Mum's busy working right now, so I brought Hop along if that's alright" was Leon's reasoning, even though they had two retired grandparents who were more than capable of taking care of the boy. Leon's admitted to having raised his brother to him and the other gym leaders before. When his Champion duties started keeping him away from home more often, Raihan could only imagine Hop honestly had no one else until Gloria had moved in.

Hell, Raihan recalls just how nervous Leon got when asked about his father. "He's... not a good person and yelled at Mum and I a lot, he left when Hop was 3 months old thankfully" it had to say something when a kid is glad one of their parents is gone, especially for the sake of their baby sibling. But, a dad who was out of the picture, a Mom who was busy with work all the time, and two grandparents who shirked the responsibility onto their oldest grandson, it wouldn't surprise Raihan if Hop had come to see Leon as more than just his big brother. 

It may not be his job, but he was going to bring that up to Leon at the very least. Which, he stood at the door of the man's Wyndon apartment, ready to help Hop out. A deep exhale and then he put a fist to the door.

Knock, knock, knock.

He waited before the door cracked open a little to show Leon who gave him a small smile.

"Come on in, Hoppip's taking a nap right now and won't be up for another half hour at least" Raihan almost tripped at the nickname. 

"Hoppip? that's adorable as Hell, man, I take it he's not exactly in his Big boy mindset?" he saw Leon shake his head with a smile.

"We packed up his stuff at the Hotel last night and brought him back here, a little more comfortable and spacious you know?" he was getting water into the kettle to make some tea.

"He was a little nervous this morning and it took some coaxing, but he's as affectionate as I remember him being when he was that age" he sounded happy, Raihan grinned at this.

"Sounds like you're enjoying this just as much Lee"

"I mean... heh" rubbing the back of his head, he gave a sheepish laugh.

"Hop's my brother, right? And he seems like he really needed this... But it is nice to have my baby brother back, I missed most of his growing up after all" He kept his eyes from looking directly at the weather master.

"You mean your baby boy, right?" Raihan asked him, sitting at the table, he could only imagine the other adult spewing his drink out if he had one at the remark.

"I... I don't know what you mean by that Rai..." there was a shyness that came with Leon's tone, which was in of itself, was adorable to hear him like that.

"You did raise him before being champion Lee, and with everything, you told me... I'm taking an educated guess in that you're more than just "Big brother" to him, just like how he's more than just your "Little brother" he could barely see it, but Leon's face was a nice shade of crimson now.

"I...I dunno if you should imply that when I only found out about all this yesterday" now Leon was stammering.

"Pretty sure my implications are deeper running than just yesterday, this is just making it more obvious" now Leon was sputtering and twitching about.

"I...I give off that kind of vibe about him?" Leon asked, voice weak. Turning, he could see Raihan with a shit-eating grin, elbows on the table and hands supporting his chin.

"Not saying you need to tell him to call you anything more than big brother, but dude, you give off "This is my little one" energy so damn hard about him even a blind person could see it" Raihan laughed while Leon whined and buried his face in his hands.

"That reminds me, does the Kiddo know that I know?" he asked, making Leon blink.

"Does Hop know that you know what?"

"About his regressing??? Leon, buddy, if he doesn't know he might freak out hardcore if he sees me"

"Oh!!! Yeah... I told him while getting him settled in here last night, he was pretty upset about it but we made up already" the kettle started to whistle, resulting in Leon pulling it off the stove and start filling two cups with the water, putting in two green tea bags.

"Honey, sugar, or plain Rai?" he asked.

"Oh, honey's fine with the tea... ever had it with homemade raspberry jam in it?" he asked curiously. Humming, Leon shook his head.

"I'm guessing Milo showed you that?" he asked him.

"Yeah, he was talking about canning and homemade jams and stuff for gifts this year" he smiled. As they sat down to have their tea, Raihan pulled out a notebook.

"This'll be for when I speak with him, but I'll only want to do it when he's able to" nodding, Leon understood what he meant. The two were greeted to soft yawning, standing at the end of the hall was Hop, Wooly tucked under his arm and rubbing at his eyes. He was dressed up in the sweater onesie, his pacifier clipped to his shirt, Leon not wanting his lanyard to choke him in his sleep. Raihan had a hand over his mouth to hide the amused grin on his face as Leon stood up and went to his brother.

"You have a good nap little one?" Leon smoothed his brother's hair with his hands, smiling at him.

"Uh-Huh," he nodded, holding his free arm up for a hug. Kneeling, he picked Hop up instead, patting his back while the boy rested his head on Leon's shoulder.

"Rai's currently over" he stated in a calm, low volume tone. Looking over Leon's shoulder and into the dining area, Hop could see the final Gym Leader, who smiled with a wave of his hand. Cheeks going pink, Hop whined and hid his face in Leon's shoulder, earning a mirth filled chuckle from the man.

"It's okay Hop, he already knows, remember? As a matter of fact, he was more concerned about me being mean to you about it, don't worry about him" he crooned, rubbing circles into his back.

"Is still embarrassing" was the muffled, half whine reply. Humming thoughtfully, Leon patted the nappy very gently, it felt squishy and warm. Nodding to himself, he started whispering into his brother's ear, carrying him back to the room to change.

"We'll be right back Rai, gonna let this Little Wooloo wake up more before we can talk"

"Sure thing!" he waved, watching them disappear into one of the rooms. It was so sweet seeing Leon tend to his brother and use precious nicknames for him. Given how Hop reacted, wanting a hug and being so snuggly with Leon, it kind of made Raihan jealous.

Jealous??? Raihan stared at his tea, surprised at the train of thought.

 _"There's nothing to be jealous of Raihan, it's just Leon being a very sweet and caring brother like he's always been to Hop"_ stirring the tea with a spoon he gave a light sigh.

 _"The way he looked at him... God, I barely remember ever seeing Lee look that warm to someone... and he's like an affectionate Sylveon on most days"_ closing his eyes, Raihan continued to stir his tea.

 _"And it must be nice too right? Having a younger sibling that looks up to you and adores you, Leon's pretty lucky to have a sweetheart of a little brother"_ his stirring soon came to a stop and he opened his eyes in surprise.

Oh...

Oh, he was jealous for two very different reasons and one of them was an attraction to his Rival and friend. 

"Shit..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 Now has art at the end!


	6. A Disappointment?

Hop let out a loud whimper, holding the book tightly in his hand. After Leon had helped him into a shirt and jeans after changing him, he took him out to the living room couch where Raihan was sitting. He gave Hop a notebook and a book. His instructions were very clear, read the book and write down how he saw the words. But, when he tried to read, the words felt like they were constantly changing letters on the boy, leaving him spiraling into a dizzying loop. He was getting frustrated, tears burned his eyes as he dropped the book to the floor, he curled up in his seat next to Raihan.

Now, Hop began recalling every time he had a failing grade and what resulted afterward. Yelling, being grounded, shamed whenever he would bring home a Failing or just barely passing the test. His mother and grandparents made it clear just how disappointed and upset they were with him and he wasn't allowed to talk to his brother on the phone if it was a night Leon would be allowed to call. Instead, they would tell his brother just why he wasn't allowed to talk to him. "He lost the privilege for poor grades" they would say it loud enough for the boy to hear, maybe hoping he'd feel so ashamed he'd "get his act together" and work harder. He even remembered how Leon would sound upset over the phone, Hop was certain as though hidden somewhere, Leon was disappointed in him too.

He remembered working as hard as he could the final year he was in school before the gym challenge. He had earned a C, so much better than his last performances in the subject. Maybe it was his mistake to be excited and show his mother and grandparents.

"This barely any better than what you earned before" his mother's words rang harshly in his ears. 

"Why can't you pass classes with all A's like your brother?" because he wasn't Leon, he was never going to be Leon. Why couldn't they just want Leon and Hop? And not two Leons? Hands curled around his ears as his whimpering got louder, trying to drown out the thoughts.

"Hop? Hop...Hey...You there, kiddo?" A hand pressed to his back, his eyes snapping open. Raihan was looking at him, concern evident on his face.

"It's okay if you're frustrated, we can try this again later" Raihan's words were so soothing... Tears just spilled from the boy's eyes as he let out a shuddering breath, covering his face.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry" the words were on repeat and he curled in on himself. Raihan rubbed his back, his free arm out in front of Hop, incase he fell forward.

"Hop, it's alright, I get how crummy this can make you feel, but you're perfectly fine, no one is mad at you, okay?" he reassured.

"M-Mama, Grandma, and Grandpa are... Why couldn't I make them happy like Lee" well... that made him frown. Pulling him in close, he stroked the boy's hair.

"Then they can be unhappy they don't have a perfect replica of the oldest brother... you're not your brother and no one should expect that of you" his words were firm like his hold on the boy who hiccupped and sniffled into his chest.

"Lee's 'robably disappointed too" Raihan just pulled him closer into the hug.

"No, No Hop, Leon loves you regardless of anything like that" he soothed. Of all times for Leon to not be present!

"Heck, Leon left to get groceries because he didn't want you getting nervous with me helping you" Hop let out soft sniffles and looked up at Raihan, those gold eyes glistening with his tears.

"I know Leon isn't around often, but he's always been happy and soft when he talks about you, so please, never think he's disappointed in you" Raihan told him. So Lee does like his loser of a brother? Sniffling dying down, Hop rested against Raihan, face warm. Relieved at this, Raihan let out a sigh, smiling as he patted the boy's back.

"Once you're ready, we'll try again on this okay? Just let me know when you're getting upset and we'll stop and give you a breather"

"Th-Thank you Rai"

"No problem Lil guy" 

"Hey, Raihan?"

"Yeah Hop?"

"Can you tell me how you handled it if people got mad you couldn't read well?" the question was so innocent and heartbreaking all at once. Leon was going to be furious at just how much his family hurt his little brother.

"Well, we caught the problem pretty early on, but my dad used to get really vocal and snappy with me about how bad my grades would be at the start of the year... For my own sake, I just started turning him out, it would piss him off to no end, but, he started realizing that the more of an asshole he acted like, I'd do it back to him in a different way... Which, things kind of escalated to the point that when I could, I moved out and cut all contact with him. So... I wouldn't say I handled it well, but, sometimes you need to cut contact from people who are making you miserable and constantly putting you down" it wasn't a pretty response, but it was the truth. He could see Hop sitting there quietly, letting it all sink in, before looking up, deep blue eyes meeting sunflower gold.

"Even if they love you?" Hop mumbled softly to him. Now it was Raihan's turn to be quiet. He wouldn't doubt that their mother loved Hop... but She oh so clearly favored and loved Leon so much more and Raihan wasn't going to say that to this sweet little boy who did nothing to earn being ignore. Instead, Raihan offered a light smile to Hop, ruffling his hair, voice much quieter.

"Yeah... Even if you love each other sometimes its for the best Kiddo" that said, Raihan had a hidden, twisted desire that the woman and her parents realize just how bad they had fucked up in failing their youngest, because he didn't deserve to feel like he wasn't good enough.

But Leon and Hop were better and much more forgiving than Raihan was and he hoped that wouldn't be taken advantage of any more then it had been. 

Untangling himself from the tall man, Hop picked up the book again, looking up at Raihan with a tiny hint of a grateful smile to him.

"I think I'm ready to try this again" and Raihan smiled back at the boy, reaching for his notebook.

"Alright then Kiddo, tell me what you see exactly"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you all are! Chapter 6! Chapter 7 is gonna be... a Ride.
> 
> Chapters 1 through 3 all have art at the end!


	7. Casual Conversations

The door pushed open and Leon came in, holding groceries. He hoped Raihan and Hop got along while he was gone and things went smoothly. From what he could see, Hop sitting there writing in the notebook and Raihan sitting next to his brother, it did.

"I'm back" he said, closing the door behind him. 

"Hey Leon, we're almost done here, there was a bit of a meltdown earlier," Raihan told him, looking up with a look at that "We'll talk about it later" to the former champion. Hop set his notebook down, nodding to Raihan that he was done. The man simply picked it up and looked through it. Leon could tell from his facial expression that they probably were going to need an official diagnosis.

"This is how you see the text?" Raihan asked with a wince, Hop seeing this ducked his head into his shirt, ashamed.

"Y-yeah..." poor thing sounded like he was ready to be berated.

"Then you should get checked out for sure Kiddo, the fact you passed your classes without help is nothing short of impressive" hearing the dragon tamer say that made him look up in surprise.

"So it is me having something going on up here??" he sounded poking his head, voice hopeful.

"That's how it's looking to me, but I'm not a trained professional," he told him, which Hop looked to Leon a little shyly.

"I'll call first thing tomorrow so we can set up an appointment as soon as possible Hop" he told him, almost sighing in relief, maybe this will help the boy see he's not as dumb as he thinks he is. He turned the oven on, he was going to make frozen Pizza for lunch. Hop got onto his phone to his shopping app. Catching a glimpse of it, Raihan saw the boy was on a website for travel pants and nappies.

"Oh is that where you get your nappies from Kiddo?" honestly, Raihan was not used to keep thoughts as thoughts, given he lived alone. Hop sputtered at the comment and took the blanket that rested on the back of the couch, hiding in it while he whimpered.

"...Uh... sorry about that... voicing my thoughts in private is kind of habit for me" he apologized awkwardly, especially when he felt Leon looking over at them. His cheeks burned when Leon came over and sat on the other side of his brother and gently rubbed his arm through the blanket.

"It's okay, little one, it's okay" he cooed to Hop who shyly poked his head out to look at his big brother. Chuckling, Leon hugged Hop, patting his back.

"Can you let your big brother see what you get?" he was smiling at Hop who looked like a cherry, shyly handing him his phone. Leon gave a hum when he looked through the purchase history.

"Did you plan to get the same prints?" he asked curiously.

"I...I was gonna get the Yamper or Ribbon Alcremie prints this time actually..." he admitted, looking at the carpet. Looking at the two, there was something amusingly adorable about Hop wanting pastel yellow and lavender nappies with cute Alcremies all over them.

"Didn't know you liked Alcremie so much little one" Hop chewed on his lower lip and looked at his brother.

"You won't be mad if I want to get them?" okay that one made a bit more sense for the boy to worry about, Raihan rationalized.

"Dunno why I'd be mad about it, Charizard fan aside I collect Ponyta stuffies and books". Well then, that was news to Raihan at least, then again by Hop's face, he didn't know this either. Leon didn't seem phased by their shock and merely added the correct items to the cart, which also had Hop's usual changing supplies already, and just hit "Purchase" and putting in his address instead of Wedgehurst's Postal office.

"There, says it'll be at the door by tomorrow evening" He could tell Hop looked incredibly flustered at that.

"You were running low on stuff right?" Hop just gave a slight nod to him.

"You know, that company makes a killing with the travel pants, which, you know, reasonable when there are no toilets out in the wild" Raihan stated, leaning back on the couch.

"More and more trainers are finding it way less embarrassing to go into a nappy then soaking or soiling their clothes" Hop just felt like he was dying more and more with every word that came out of Raihan's mouth.

"They're a lot more discrete then they used to be, least, that's what Piers told me, remember when we were all camping during our gym challenge and how bad he was bawling when he had an accident?" Leon asked Raihan, pulling Hop onto one of his legs and bouncing it up and down.

"Poor guy was inconsolable for the better part of the night, Gordie and Nessa wound up taking him down by the river to help him wash his clothes and calm him down" Raihan chuckled a little. This made Hop blink curiously, looking between the two.

"Piers wore nappies during his challenge and still does???" he inquired innocently. Looking at one another, the two just laughed at the question.

"His gym challenge he did after his accident, but now?? no idea, he just brought up them being more discrete because one of the gym challengers this season had one on and he couldn't tell" Leon explained, patting Hop's head.

"But, wouldn't shock me if he was a little too, to be honest, he kind of gives off those vibes" Raihan admitted to the two.

"You know..? That's a fair point, but unless you want him kicking your ass I wouldn't go asking" looking at how bewildered Hop looked, Leon could barely restrain the amused smile on his face.

"The whole Little space and wearing nappies isn't as uncommon or weird as you think baby brother" Leon calmly explained to Hop, pulling him to sit fully on his lap.

"Is that why you didn't get grossed out or mad at me?" Hop's thumb was making way to his mouth. Reaching for the end table closest to his side of the couch, he grabbed the pacifier and popped it into Hop's mouth.

"I would have kicked his ass if he had been" Raihan quipped in, making Leon roll his eyes and shake his head.

"It being semi-common is part of the reason I didn't Hop, but, mainly, little space or not, you're my baby brother regardless and I don't like seeing you distraught or sad" now Leon was blushing a bit admitting to this. Staring at him in shock, Hop couldn't help but slowly smile behind his pacifier. Leaning forward, he hugged his brother tightly. Smiling, Leon returned the hug.

"I love you too Hop"

"You two are so sweet I'm gonna get sugar shock over here" Raihan teased playfully, making Leon turn his head and stick his tongue out at him as he hugged his brother after pulling him closer. Hop giggled loudly at the two's interaction, resting his head against his brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I enjoy writing casual conversations honestly.


	8. Honesty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raihan can be pretty brutal in his honesty at time.
> 
> TW: Suicide mention

Pulling the covers over the sleeping boy and placing the Wooloo plush into his arm, Leon kissed his brother on the forehead before leaving the room, leaving the door cracked open just enough to let in some light. It was 10 PM and the boy had been yawning and rubbing his eyes for the past half hour, a clear sign he needed to go to bed. He's greeted to Raihan sitting on the couch, the movie the three had been watching before he sent his brother off to bed.

"Sorry about that, I was helping him change into his Pajamas and tucked into bed" he said to Raihan.

"It's fine, lil guy looked tired" nodding, Leon sat down next to Raihan. There was a pause of silence, Leon gently tapping on his fingers on his lap and looking at his feet.

"So uhm..Rai... you looked like you wanted to talk to me in private earlier, was Hop good for you while I was gone?" he didn't mean to make it sound like his little brother was bad and he winced realizing it came off as such.

"Oh he was perfectly fine Lee, but... I guess I'm kind of worried about just how much your family hurt him?" Raihan scratched the back of his neck which itched from his nerves of saying this to him. He felt and saw Leon shifting to give him his full attention, giving him the okay to continue.

"He was pretty upset earlier about the assignment, crying because he thinks he's a disappointment on the family, Hell, he thinks you were disappointed in him too" Leon's hands clutched tightly to his trousers and his shoulders went rigid at the topic. Taking a deep inhale, he held it before exhaling.

"Mum and our Grandparents did... have a tendency to tell me about Hop's "horrid Grades" and wasn't allowed to talk to me on the phone whenever I called home as part of his punishment for it..." his voice was uneven and uneasy, but he didn't look Raihan in the face the moment the scowl began to form.

"Full offense Leon, but your grandparents and Mum's are fucking cunts to do that to your brother who adores you" there was... no way to argue with him, even if Leon wanted to defend them.

"No I get it, you discipline a kid for bad grades if they're not doing their work, but some things you do not touch, family vacations and Holidays, or the privilege to talk to other family members, they're fucking cunts for denying a kid the chance to talk to a family member who is busy and for not bothering to look into possibilities of why he was struggling"

"I... can't... quite argue with you on how messed up it was, especially when they would tell me in a way that... was basically to let him know they were talking about him to me..." God Leon was starting to feel like the world's biggest jackass right now, for never standing up for his brother about this.

"So... they essentially taunted him by taking your call in hearing range... Leon, I swear to Arceus if you don't move him in with you, you might end up losing your brother in the worst way possible". That sentence... it struck something in the man who now had a vice grip on his legs and his body shook. He wanted to slap the shit out of Raihan for saying that, but he knew the Dragon tamer was being brutally honest to him, and could Leon honestly be mad at him when he did sit on the sidelines and allowed his brother to get bullied by their mother? His vision stayed on his hands, blurring in and out from the stinging tears in them. Seeing the tears dripping onto his hands, Raihan's face softened and he looked away.

"... Sorry man, that was uncalled for on my par-

"No! no, you... I didn't want to hear it or even think about that possibility, but your point... I know it'd be a bit of a ride to and from Wyndon to Wedgehurst, but, I think you're right, my brother needs time away from the rest of our family and as he put it, they probably won't be bothered" he stammered out, wiping his eyes.

"Still, I shouldn't have gotten on you about it..."

"No... you should have, I didn't do much to help him before now and even if I was upset, I never tried to speak up for him when I should have... I'm no better for it honestly" Leon sounded ashamed. Biting the inside of his cheek while looking at Leon's slumped form, Raihan moved in closer, wrapping his arms around him.

"Come on Big guy, you're doing what you can and being there for him now, at least feel better that you're making the effort to better your relationship" he told him, patting his back. Leaning forward, Leon pressed his face into Raihan's shoulder and shook.

"'ee???" Raihan looked up to see Hop standing at the end of the hall, thumb nearing his mouth shyly, holding his Wooloo plush against himself. 

"Hey kiddo... we wake you up?" Raihan inquired, still patting Leon's back. 

"I need my paci... Heard stuff" Hop said, frowning when he saw his brother's current state. 

"You're sad Lee..." Hop stated in an innocent tone. Turning to face him, Leon wiped his eyes.

"I'll be fine Hop... I'm just-" Leon saw his little brother sit behind him. Arms wrapping around his waist and Leon felt the weight of his little brother's head against his side.

"Love you big brother" despite his voice being muffled by Leon's shirt, it rang clear in the man's ears. Giving off a weak chuckle and sniffle, Leon wrapped one arm around his brother, rubbing his shoulder, using his free arm to wipe the remainder of his tears away.

"Love you too little brother" It was nice for him to know his little brother and friend were there to help him handle his own self-doubts and negative emotions.


	9. Little One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hop just needs some down time.

Two days since Raihan's visit and Hop was antsy from the now finished meeting with the psychologist. He was there for a good three hours doing all sorts of tests and talking to the woman, by the end of it, he felt a mix of emotions when all tests came back and confirmed what Leon was suspecting, but, it also came back that he had more than that going on too. He didn't mean to, but when they got into the Taxi after the appointment, he just started to cry, emotions overwhelming him entirely.

"Shhh, Shhh, you're okay, you're okay" Leon cooed, pulling him close into his lap. Kissing his head, Leon gave Hop soft pats and rubs on his back to soothe him easier.

"Do you want to sit and color in your coloring books or play with your toys when we get home to put this in the back of your head for a while?" he felt Hop nodding his head into his chest.

"Okay when we get home big brother will help you into a nappy and some cute clothes so you can color or play with your stuffies, that sound good Sweetie?" he got a soft sniff and muffled "Uh-Huh" in response. The ride back was quiet, aside from the occasional huff or hiccup from Hop, though Leon did sit and mentally stir the now confirmed suspicions. His biggest concern was informing their family and how they'll take the news. Part of him desperately wishes that when they see this they'll be struck with a sense of horror and apologize profusely for how they treated Hop over his grades when it wasn't his fault. Another part of him, a dark part of him, hopes that if they brush it off with little care, then they won't try and fight him if he were to suggest Hop come and live with him, as they'll have proved they cared nothing for the youngest brother's wellbeing. Arms wrapping tighter around the boy, Leon took a deep, calm breath, reminding himself that the boy already been through enough, he didn't need to cause him any more grief. He could hear sleepy little breathes coming from Hop, making him smile and kiss him on his head again when he would stir.

Reaching for his phone, he started to text Raihan.

**KingoftheBattleTower: It was confirmed Rai, Hop's got the same thing you do, along with ADHD, poor Hoppip wound up crying himself to sleep.**

**DesertDragonPrince: You feel better now that you know for sure?**

**KingoftheBattleTower: Yeah, we have it officially documented and signed so I can show our folks, I'm... not looking forward to that discussion though.**

**DesertDragonPrince: Do you want me to come and hang out in Wedgehurst just in case things go south?**

**KingoftheBattleTower: I'll think about it, but It might be for the best, Hop wants to regress when we get home so I'm going to focus on my little one and not talking to our mum and grandparents.**

**KingoftheBattleTower: *Brother, my little brother**

**DesertDragonPrince: Ahp! You can't take that back now Lee! Told you you were parental as fuck when it came to Hop!**

**KingoftheBattleTower: OIfljzdfjkhzdgk- RAI**

**DesertDragonPrince: I mean! Honestly man??? Maybe you should talk to him about it?? would it even hurt, to be honest?**

**KingoftheBattleTower: ...**

**DesertDragonPrince: Just a penny for your thoughts is all.**

The Tax stopped right outside his flat, sighing, Leon Opened the door and got out, thanking the taxi driver as he adjusted his hold on his brother. He was greeted to the empty apartment, lights off and some window blinds Open to let in natural light. The squirming Hop did while he slept did alert Leon as he heard mumbles.

"hmnf... Did I sleep..?" the boy yawned out, rubbing at his eyes. Carefully, Leon set him on his feet, Hop holding to his shirt while trying to get the sleep out of his eyes.

"You seemed pretty tired mentally after the appointment little bro, maybe you should lay down for naptime?" Hop looked at Leon with sleepy eyes.

"Maybe... sorry for crying" Leon's hand tussled his hair a little in response.

"You were overwhelmed and drained emotionally and mentally, I'm not mad you needed to cry after all of that" he reassured before taking his hand to lead him to the bedroom.

"Okay...Uhm...Am I... Can I wear a nappy to bed?" Hop's eyes were planted to the ground and a blush crept onto his face for asking the question.

'It'll make getting you into your headspace easier, won't it? Which we were going to do when we got home, plus, last I checked, little ones need their rest after all" Leon was grinning back at him as they got to the room. Hop gave a mild, playful whine, his brother was pushing his buttons on purpose now. He was sat down on the bed and Leon took charge changing him out of his clothes, starting by pushing his paci into his mouth and then undoing the trousers and pulling them down with his underwear. Looking away, Hop could only twiddle his thumbs together, still shy when he wasn't in his full mindset when Leon changed him. Letting himself fall backwards onto the bed with a "pomf" of the bed, Hop was just trying to make it easier for Leon to change him and got amused chuckling for his efforts. The light crinkling sounds and the feeling of the plush nappy could be felt and the boy looked down, seeing Leon had decided to use the Ribbon sweet Alcremie prints on him.

"There we go, now, do you think you can be big brother's good little helper again and hold your arms up?" giggling behind the paci, Hop did as instructed, feeling his shirt just come flying off past his head and a light blue T-Shirt with a Yamper running with a Pokeball in its mouth on the front taking its place. Or... at least he thought it was a T-shirt. Leon pulled him off the bed and into standing up, placing Hop's arms to be around his neck when he knelt and pulled at the shirt firmly, where the sound of snaps and pops caught in Hop's ears.

"There we go, nice and ready for naptime" Leon sounded happy with his handiwork, picking his brother up and setting him down on the bed more comfortably. When he looked down, he saw it was indeed, a onesie, one Hop didn't previously own. He shot a quizzical look to Leon who just smiled with a shrug.

"I might have looked at a few more things on that website on my phone for things to get for you" he... wasn't expecting that. He offered a very shy smile behind his paci, holding his arms up to give him a hug, which he was granted when Leon sat down and pulled him to the pillows. Cheek smooshed against Leon's chest, Hop saw him pick out a book to read to him.

"Let's read this one," Leon said, the book in question had a shiny Eevee sitting alone while other eevees were playing together. He let out an approving hum and giggle while they settled down, Hop grabbing his stuffie and listening to his brother while looking at the photos. His mind started to comfortably haze him into sleep. Nuzzling into Leon's side, Hop let out a soft sigh and mumbled in his barely awake state.

"Love you, Papa"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter?? Was fun to write, the next chapter's going to be fun too.


	10. Papa

"Love you, Papa" Leon had almost dropped the book hearing Hop say that. Whipping his head, he looked over at the boy.

"I'm sorry?" he asked aloud, not that it mattered, Hop was already asleep, leaving Leon to sit in silence for at least an hour. "Papa" Hop just called him that...

"He was regressing when he called you that... even though most of the time it's big brother or just Lee... nothing to feel... weird about right???" Leon asked himself. The feeling in his chest, it wasn't a bad feeling at all, but, it was one he wasn't sure how to comprehend.

"You raised him, Leon, Hop knows this too, stop freaking out over it" he inwardly stated. He grabbed His phone right away.

**KingoftheBattleTower: I concede Raihan... You were right...**

**DesertDragonPrince: Right about...what?**

**KingoftheBattleTower: Hop called me Papa before he went to sleep.**

**DesertDragonPrince: ...AHHHAAAHHAA**

**KingoftheBattleTower: :| Raihan I'm trying to work out how I feel about this, that's not helping**

**DesertDragonPrince: Right, right, sorry, but, is it a Bad feeling you feel?**

**KingoftheBattleTower: It's not but... I just??? Hop's my little brother right?? wouldn't it be weird to have parental feelings over sibling feelings?**

**DesertDragonPrince: No?? You raised him until work made you busier, and you're taking care of him in your home, regressed or not, and I told you he saw you as more than just his big brother, which is made more obvious when he's in that headspace and you treat him more like your son than you do as your brother.**

**KingoftheBattleTower: I... I know you said that... I just...**

**DesertDragonPrince: Do you feel like you don't deserve those feelings?**

**KingoftheBattleTower: Not after never standing up for him I don't**

**DesertDragonPrince: :| Lee, buddy boy, friend, compadre, we been over this, yes, you didn't do more than you wished you could have, you're guilty of just standing on the sidelines, but, it's kinda obvious that Hop doesn't care about your role in all that shit, you're still the one he went to for comfort and is comfortable being this way around you, you've earned this okay? And for real man? You should seek some therapy or counseling, you're not letting this go and you need to learn to cope with it.**

**KingoftheBattleTower: ... How are you so good at this?**

**DesertDragonPrince: You know about my family history and what I wish could have been better, so...**

**KingoftheBattleTower: Right... I'll...I'll talk with him about it when he wakes up, maybe I'm just freaking out because he's not awake right now to talk to about this...**

**DesertDragonPrince: You do that Lee, but, again there's nothing wrong with admitting you have more paternal feelings over sibling feelings over your brother you helped raise.**

Sighing, Leon put his phone away. He looked back at Hop who slept peacefully. Stretching a handout, he gently stroked the boy's head, making him trill and lean closer in response. Smiling at this, he leaned forward and kissed him on the head, covering him up more. Getting off the bed, Leon made his way to the kitchen.

Egg noodles, chicken thighs and breasts, and veggies, he was going to just cook for now. It was supposed to rain anyway so a bowl of soup sounded good. Filling the pot with water and putting the chicken inside to boil, he just let it simmer and cook.

-

Hop began to stir, waking up to the aroma of chicken broth and veggies simmering. Sitting up, he yawned, legs stretching out and started rubbing eyes with both hands.

_Squish._

Oh... Hop looked down at the onesie, tapping his pacifier curiously. Scooting off the bed, he began to crawl off it, dragging Wooly with him with his free hand. Legs hanging off the ledge, Hop began to wiggle in an attempt to shimmy down, however, he instead lost balance and fell rear first to the floor with a loud squeak and squish. Disorientated, he began to shake his head, blowing air out of his mouth. He hugged Wooly closer to himself then tried to stand up, but, his legs felt too heavy for him to stand too well, let alone walk. Instead... He decided to just crawl. The hall seemed so much longer than he was used to, everything seemed too big for him too. He saw Leon sitting on the couch, watching a movie and he smiled widely, getting to him faster.

He sat at Leon's feet, looking up at him with a bright smile. Leon looked like he hadn't noticed Hop coming out. Hand reaching out, Hop gripped onto Leon's pant leg and tugged on it.

"Hm??" Leon looked down to see Hop sitting there looking up at him with those big innocent gold eyes and smiling behind his paci, arms up to Leon.

"Oh...when did you get up little guy?" Leon had to lean forward to pick his brother up, sitting him on his lap, humming when he realized the boy was wet. Giggling, Hop fell forward into a hug against his brother.

"Hmmm, I think someone needs a nappy change" he said to the boy, looking at him.

"what do you think?" nodding excitedly with humming, Hop was smiling at his brother, snuggling against him.

"Huh... Hop, how old are you right now?" The way he was acting was a bit different than what Leon was used to for sure, usually, the youngest he regressed was Two years old and he was pretty talkative during that... this was a different kind of bubbly little Hop.

"mnfh???" Hop babbled with his head tilting curiously at Leon, chin resting on Leon's chest. The question was soon ignored in favor of butting his head into Leon's chest and cuddling him with even more giggling.

"Papa" there it was again... but it was way more... infantile sounding than when he had said it earlier. Staring at his cooing brother, didn't take long for Leon to put two and two together.

"Oh... You're deep in headspace aren't you Sweetie?" he asked while sitting him up, only getting raspberries blown as a response along with Hop patting Leon's cheeks playfully. Smiling, Leon just put his lips against Hop's cheek and blew raspberries right back at him, earning squeals and uncontrollable laughter from his currently, baby, baby brother.

It suddenly made even more sense for Hop to call him Papa now, if he was comfortable enough to regress this far. And honestly? That was perfectly fine for Leon.


	11. Phone Call

Smiling, Leon sat on the floor with his brother in his lap, watching him stack blocks on top of each other. Leon grinned when the boy let out a delighted squeal and clapped his hands when he finished.

"You did it!" Leon cheered for his brother happily, hugging him. Babbling incoherently to Leon, Hop bounced happily in his lap. Hearing the kitchen timer go off, Leon stood up, holding his brother. Sitting him at the dining table, Leon went to give the soup one more stir before getting two bowls. 

"I'm sure someone is hungry huh?" he asked, getting a "Yah!!" in response. Chuckling he filled the two bowls up and let them cool off, given Hop might take the heat not well in his headspace.

He was not expecting to enjoy his brother being like this, but he was so adorable like this and reminded Leon of times he babysat his brother. Still, with that did come the responsibility of remembering how babies usually handled or responded to things.

Which reminded Leon, he should remember to pick up more coloring books and crayons next time he went shopping. He didn't realize just how quickly his brother went through them. Maybe even take the remain crayon bits and melt them down when his brother was in a bigger headspace. 

"Baahbuh" Hop babbled out, placing Wooly onto the block tower before giggling loudly.

"Is Wooly the King of the mountain?" Leon asked his brother, grinning at him.

"Wooowy" he chimed grabbing the stuffie and hugging it tightly. Taking his temp gun, Leon hummed, the soup was cooled off now.

"Alrighty Lil' guy" he said going over and picking his brother up, booping his nose. Hop just wiggled excitedly as his brother sat down and placed him in the chair next to him. Taking the spoon, he held it up to his brother's mouth.

"Ahhh" Leon was so glad Hop was always a cooperative eater, even now as he fed him with a smile while cheering for him.

"What a good little one you are" Hop trilled happily at that, feet swaying back and forth as his brother fed him. It was amusing to Leon at least, who smiled.

\---

Watching a movie at least wasn't too difficult, Hop was cradled by his brother, holding one of his bottles which had been filled with water as he began to doze off, which left Leon free to comfortably watch a movie.

Patting the front of the nappy out of habit, Leon hummed as he adjusted his brother's position, popping the bottle out of his mouth to replace it with his paci. This earned him a brief and soft whine before Hop settled back down when Leon placed his stuffie into his arms, and that seemed to make Hop fall asleep. A warm blanket was wrapped around the two, Leon nuzzled the boy closer, kissing his forehead.

Between the now tapping of rain hitting the roof and window sill and the movie, Leon found himself starting to drift as well. Moving to Lay on his side, his arm was around Hop to keep him from falling to the floor.

He was just about to drift off before his phone went off. With a tired glare, he picked it up and read the ID.

"shit..." in big white letters he saw it was their mother calling. On one hand, he was tempted to ignore it... on the other, she'd keep calling until he picked up or worse, call Sonia, and honestly, Sonia would chew his ass out justifiably if she thought something happened to him.

"Looks like I don't have much choice" he mumbled before hitting the green receive button.

"Hey Mum" he greeted.

"Hello Leon, is your brother with you?" straight to the point wasn't she?

"Yeah? something up?" he asked her.

"I got a call from a psychology clinic about him and how they could set up sessions and classes to help him, what's going on?" she didn't sound... pleased. That sobered him up as he sat up without disturbing his brother. He knew he legally couldn't keep her information off of the documentation, even if he was listed as one of his brother's guardians for medical emergencies and check-ups, and was the one who paid for the damn session.

"Oh... I took him to a psychologist because he and Raihan were talking and Raihan suspected that Hop has dyslexia, and since the clinic in Wyndon has a good reputation, so, I set him up an appointment and we confirmed it" it wasn't a lie, Leon just left out that Hop brought it up at all. He frowned, the first time she's called since telling him Hop was radio silent and it's not even to check on his well being.

"Why would you do that without asking me?" That... Leon did not at all like how accusatory or pissy she sounded there.

"Because last I checked, I'm the one who pays the medical bills in the family and have been since I turned 18 and you asked me to put Hop on my medical insurance and you handled yours and Grandma and Grandpa's" he didn't quite care if he sounded hostile with her. He could almost hear her frowning over the phone as he waited for a response.

"I see... I just think it was a pointless expense for something like that, he's not in school anymore"

"Doesn't mean he doesn't do a lot of reading when working with Sonia and I don't get why the fuck you didn't get him checked out for it when he was in school and instead you, Grandma, and Grandpa teamed up and bullied him about him having abysmal English grades when there was an actual reason behind it mum, or did you happen to forget shaming him when on call with me?" now he was getting nastier, Raihan might be rubbing off on him.

"..."

"Is that you needed to call about? or do you actually want to know how your youngest son is doing since you haven't heard from him in weeks too?" he asked with annoyance. He was met with an incredibly long silence.

"By the way, he's doing better now that we know he has ADHD and Dyslexia, thanks for showing concern and asking about it" He knew his mom was about to respond but he hung up before she could. Sighing, he began text Sonia.

**KingOftheBattleTower** : Sonia if our mum calls you, just take what she says with a grain of salt

 **ScienceQueen** : ...I love being told things without context

 **KingOftheBattleTower** : First time she's called me since she told me Hop left for vacation and she got up my ass about taking him to a psychologist and how pointless of an expense it was, so I got nasty with her about it :|

 **ScienceQueen** : Wait...Did you take him to get checked out for something?

 **KingOftheBattleTower** : Yeah? Turns out he has Dyslexia and ADHD, just a fair warning

 **ScienceQueen** : That...Makes sense to why he used Rotom to scan documents and pages from our books to read out to him. IS he okay though? It sounds like he's under your care.

 **KingOftheBattleTower** : He is, this week has been a bit of a roller coaster for him and he really needed to spend time with his big brother <3.

 **ScienceQueen** : You're talking like he's a little kid.

 **KingOftheBattleTower** : ...Uh... about that...

 **ScienceQueen** : ...

 **KingOftheBattleTower** : He... Kinda... is?

 **ScienceQueen** : And again, this explains the emotional outburst, you'll have to get him to talk to me about it so if something happens when he comes back to assist me I won't be freaking out on how to handle his headspace

 **KingOftheBattleTower** : Thanks Sonia, Raihan already knows and Hop already got huffy about me telling him, so hopefully with you, he'll be more understanding that I needed to tell you.

 **ScienceQueen** : I see how it is, tell your boyfriend first before me :P

 **KingOftheBattleTower:** dlfjzdflkzdfzfl HE IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND

 **ScienceQueen:** But you want him to be

 **KingOftheBattleTower:** IRRELEVANT TO THIS CONVERSATION

 **ScienceQueen** : Just ask him out already you dweeb, you can drop your baby boy off with Me and Nessa while you go on a date.

 **KingOftheBattleTower** : DOGJDGKLDFGLDX'FGJZDF S O N I A

 **KingOftheBattleTower** : AND YOU TOO ABOUT HOP AND I'S RELATIONSHIP?

 **ScienceQueen** : You have to be fucking Blinder than a Zubat to not see that one actually, Seriously Milo and Gordie think that Hop is actually your secret son that you just pretend is your brother, I've had to show them photos of you with your mum when she was pregnant.

 **KingOftheBattleTower** : df;gklxjdfgjklxgd 

**ScienceQueen** : Anyway, I need to get back to my movie with Nessa, talk to you later!

"God Dammit Sonia" Leon mumbled, pressing his hand to his forehead. He took one more look at Hop though, who slept through the phone call and gave a soft smile.

"You're a lot of trouble you know that?" he asked affectionately, moving stray hairs out of his face. Laying back down, he resumed his movie.

Though now Sonia's words about his crush were going to haunt him for the rest of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trust me, Leon and Hop's Mom is going to be worse in a future Chapter.  
> Also some Nessa/Sonia for y'all and some Sonia and Lee banter.


	12. Bath Time

**DesertDesertDragonPrince** : You sure you're cool with me coming over today?

  
 **KingofTheBattleTower** : Sure am, just need someone to talk to in person, Hop is great to talk to when he's in his normal mindset, but right now he's not and that means his vocabulary is very lacking.

  
 **DesertDragonPrince** : Fair enough, I'll bring some cookies I made at home, Gordie sent me a recipe he found online and they're pretty good :P

 **KingofTheBattleTower** : Sounds good to me, just a heads up, Hop slipped deep into headspace after his nap, I wanna say... maybe One mentally right now? One and a Half?

 **DesertDragonPrince** : :O are you having fun with that?

 **KingofTheBattleTower** : He's fucking adorable like this, He did get into the paints and glitter an hour ago and cried when I took it away, I had to distract him with crayons and TV, so, right now he's watching Yamper and Pumpkaboo's clues and pointing to the clues and being a wiggly little guy

 **DesertDragonPrince** : That IS cute as hell man, I'll be there in 40, the train just arrived.

 **KingofTheBattleTower** : See you then!!

"C'UE!!!" Hop squealed pointing to the yellow paw print on a popsicle stick. Leon let out a small chuckle as he set his phone down, before moving to the floor and sitting behind his brother.

"Did you find one buddy?" Hop hummed excitedly and pointed again, looking at his brother with a big smile and chanting "C'ue" while bouncing in his lap. 

"Guess you did! What a smart boy you are" Leon kissed him on the cheek, earning mirthful giggles as Hop covered his mouth happily. Looking down, Leon saw Hop had scribbled on the cheap drawing pad he got him. The boy drew what Leon could only assume, was a flower. Picking up the crayon, Hop babbled pressing it to the paper, scribbling in a sky background. Hearing the end credit music for the show, Leon turned off the TV.

"Are you ready for bath time?" Hop was covered in dried paint and glitter, but, he was too upset when Leon locked it all up in his closet that he had to get him to calm down before even thinking of trying to bathe him.

"Nooooo" Hop whined, puffing his cheeks out and pouting. Snorting, the man got onto his feet, both hands under Hop's arms and lifting him off the ground.

"Well, you're getting bath time so we can get that paint off" and that resulted in Hop flailing.

"Nooooo!!!" he cried out, trying to escape Leon's hold. Leon groaned as he held firm to his brother who was kicking his feet and flailing his arms to break free. Rolling his eyes at how dramatic Hop was being, Leon carried him off to the bathroom, dodging his hands while walking. 

"I promise you'll be out in no time, but you gotta sit still okay?" he tried to reason with the boy, closing the door with his foot while sitting him on the floor. He made sure to lock the door as well, good call on his end as Hop tried to leap out to the hall, only to bang his face into the door. 

"H-Hop! Are you okay?!" the younger brother rolled onto his back, tears welling up into fat blobs. 

"H...Hh..." breathing hard, Hop started bawling, holding his nose. 

"Hop, Hop, oh sweetie..." on his knees quick as he could, Leon cradled Hop into his arms. Fingers dug into Leon's shoulder, Hop sobbing loudly into his shoulder.

"Did the door hurt your cute little nose?" he hushed, rocking the boy in his arms.

"Papaaaa" Hop hiccupped loudly, pulling away and wiping at his eyes. Fingers tenderly stroked the bridge of Hop's nose.

"Do you want me to kiss it better?" Leon cooed, still rocking his brother.

"'iss" he choked out past the tears and crying, amused, Leon kissed the bridge of his brother's nose, pressing their foreheads together. Once the worst of the crying died down, Leon sat on the floor, comforting his sad little brother with occasional back rubs and bouncing. Scooting closer to the tub, Leon turned on the water, keeping his hand under the water until it ran very warm. Taking a clean washcloth, he soaked it then rang out the water, gently patting it to his brother's nose. 

"There, is your nose feeling better with a warm cloth little one?" Hop leaned closer to it. Wiping the tears away with the washcloth, Leon sat Hop down, plugging the tub and putting in a grape scented bubble bath.

"See? The warm water will make you feel better" Hop looked up at his big brother, holding the cloth to his nose. Letting the Tub fill up, Leon turned and began to undress Hop. Humming, Leon gave a mild smile, wriggling his fingers on Hop's exposed tummy and sides. Soon the tears disappeared and were replaced with happy squeals and peals of laughter.

"No more sad Hop! Yay" Leon cheered. Squirming, Hop giggled hard into his hands. Smiling, Leon untaped the nappy, which was now more swollen after the tickle attack, which was his intention.

"Alright, into the tub we go" Standing up, Leon lifted Hop and set him down into the tub, turning the water off. Curiously, Hop scooped the bubbles into his hands, sniffing it, he smiled before swishing his arms around in the grape scent. 

"Close your eyes Lil Guy" hearing that, Hop squeaked and closed them tightly. Getting a Cup of Water, Leon used his free hand to shield Hop's eyes and poured the water over his head.

"Waterfall!" Leon exclaimed playfully, making his brother laugh. 

Surprisingly, after smashing his face into the door, Hop was way more cooperative with taking a bath, it did not take long for Leon to get Hop washed up, though, he should invest in bath toys to keep his brother occupied in the future.

"There we go, all clean! Let's dry off and get you dressed up and cozy!" 

"Yah!!" Hop happily splashed, arms up while the tub was set to drain. Out of the tub and drying him off, Leon was met to Hop's hair becoming all sorts of wild and fluffed out, which made him snort in amusement.

"Alright, Nappy first, then... this" he motioned to his brother's hair, not that Hop was paying attention as he was laid down, he was looking at everything in the bathroom with wandering eyes, he didn't even notice when Leon changed him. Leon smiled, holding Hop's hands and pulled him to sit up, before turning him so he was in his lap as he grabbed the hairbrush, brushing his hair upwards. Trilling, Hop leaned against Leon and looked up at him, being met with the brush on his bangs.

"Almost done, then we'll put you in a clean outfit" 

"Yaaaaaay!!" Hop cooed, laying against his brother who continued to brush his hair.

"Annnnd we're done!!" Leon grinned, putting the brush back on the sink, picking him up.

"Ready to get dressed Hoppy?"

"'rm 'othes" he garbled at him, patting Leon's face happily.

"Warm clothes time it is then" he smiled, now making his way to the guest room. Hop sat on the bed, watching his big brother dig through a dresser, seeing Leon pull out a pink to lavender Onesie with a stars and clouds pattern, and some socks.

"Ohhh, this is super cute" Leon hadn't seen it before, meaning it must have been a purchase Hop made.

"I found your onesie Lil Guy, Can you put your arms up for your big brother?"

"Ha!!!" Hop chirped, throwing his arms up so hard he threw himself off balance and onto his back. Snickering and shaking his head, Leon opened the onesie up to slip it on his brother easier.

"Stahs" Hop smiled, pointing to the stars on his onesie while it was snapped into place.

"That's right, stars Hop-pop" slipping the socks on, Leon grinned as he looked at his brother who sat up, holding his arms up to him.

"Wanna wait for Rai-Rai?" Leon asked, resulting in Hop bopping around animatedly. Arms wrapped around him, Leon went back to the main room with his dancey baby brother. Dropping to the couch, Leon heard Hop yelp, grabbing to Leon's shirt. Staring at Leon, a smile broke onto Hop's face as he laughed, clapping his hands. Grinning back and sitting up, Leon moved Hop onto one knee.

"You find that fun Hoppy?" supporting his brother with both hands on his waist, Leon started to bounce him up and down. Giggling hard, Hop held his arms to his brother, Leon smiling back at him.

"Looks like someone likes bouncy time!" Leon stated, voice full of mirth.

"'ouncies!!!" Hop cheered.

Raihan wasn't going to be here for another 20 minutes after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sketch By Xjio but colored by Me. (I commissioned it)
> 
> Next Chapter is going to be so much fun for me to do!


	13. Let's Talk about Hobbies and Winnie the Pooh

Leon pulled the door open, Raihan came in, holding a tin, his hoodie tied around his waist and hair undone.

"Still going for the free hair look?" Leon asked with a grin.

"Hah, yep, hairstylist was getting annoyed picking out sand and dirt bits whenever I went in, also she suggested I give my scalp a break" he shrugged.

"Where's the Kiddo at?" Leon jabbed a thumb behind him, Hop was sitting on the floor, playing with a shape sorter block, trying to put a heart-shaped block into a circular hole.

"Hop" Leon called over, making his brother look up as he motioned to the dragon tamer.

"Rai-Rai!!" he squeaked, flailing one hand at him. Grinning, Raihan laughed and waved back.

"Hello to you too little professor in training, playing with shape blocks?" he grinned at Hop.

"Yah!!!" he pushed down the heart block into the right hole and cheered with happy squeals and claps.

"Okay yeah, you're right, he's super adorable like this"

"Right? I have some tea steeping, you don't mind dandelion tea right? Milo sent me a huge ass jar of them and roots, along with, recipes and things you can do with them"

"Oh, you too huh? was it like, one of those extra-large pickle jars that you NEED to use two hands to hold?" he asked, Leon gave a light laugh.

"Yeah pretty much, but Turffield is mostly... Fields, so I wouldn't be surprised if he could fill like 20 of those jars if not more" he sniggered.

"Oh speaking of pickles, I started doing that recently, mainly veggies and eggs, but, it's pretty relaxing"

"How recently?"

"I'd say...maybe two months ago? I mean, I grew up in a farm town too so, it's not like this stuff is entirely foreign to me"

"You know? Fair enough, anyway" he set the tin down onto the dining table.

"They're a butterscotch shortbread with chocolate coating, Gordie found it online when looking for activities to do with his siblings, guess Melony is going out to Hoenn for a weekend with Kabu and Gordie's in charge of the kiddos"

"Oof, that's four kids he'll be alone with for basically four days if you count air travel, he gonna survive?" Leon asked grinning. Raihan was grinning too.

"Piers is staying with him during it to help out, guess they're making a date of it" Leon blinked, did he hear Raihan right?

"Date..? Like... Date, date?" he asked Raihan.

"...Oh, Dude, you **need** to get out more with all of us, or at least check Pokegram" Raihan pulled his phone out and showed him a few photos. Scrolling through them, Leon blinked at the party photos.

"Oh, this was when you all were at Larry's Karaoke Bar and Grill" he sounded sheepish, looking away, scratching the back of his head.

"Half off Drinks, Piers got fucking tanked and spilled his guts about it there, he was incredibly emotional the following day and Gordie had to confront him about it. Was kinda awkward at first, but, yeah that was an adventure for sure" he stated.

"We didn't push you to go since you don't drink around crowds of strangers and loud noises seem to bother the shit out of you"

"It's not loud noises exactly Rai, it's when they're in a small space and I can't get to an exit that I panic, otherwise I'd be an overwhelmed wreck after every match I did as my time as champion" he pointed out.

"Claustrophobia?"

"Agoraphobia, I can do small spaces with like maybe 2 people max, or stuff myself in a closet and be fine" now it was Raihan's turn to give Leon a long, blank stare.

"I...Do I want context on how you discovered that last bit?"

"Rabid fans" 

"...yeah good point, if I had to choose between cramming my ass in a broom closet or deal with a mass of overly eccentric fans, I'd take the former too"

"Exactly, hopefully, Gloria's getting along well" Leon said, hearing Raihan laugh.

"She's just fine Lee, she's a slippery escapist" he stated. He felt a light tug on the leg of his trousers, Hop was sitting there looking up at him, holding a Ponyta plushie.

"'oria???" he babbled his best friend's name out innocently, eyes shining thinking she was around. Raihan knelt to Hop's level and ruffled his hair.

"We were just talking about her buddy, she's not here" the smile on Hop's face fell right away and was replaced with a sad frown, Raihan felt bad.

"Sorry Lil' guy" chewing his lower lip, Leon looked at his brother.

"Do you miss your friend Hop?" he asked, seeing a tiny nod from his brother. He pulled him into a hug.

"I'll text her later and see if she'll do a call with us, okay?" Raihan gave Leon a bit of a look at that, does Gloria even know about Hop's headspace for that to be okay? But, it made Hop brighten back up as he smiled and nodded.

"Okay, we'll text her later, okay baby boy?" happy at this response, Hop pressed his face to Leon's cheek, kissing him as best he could. In swift Motion, Leon picked up Hop and sat him at the table. Getting to the fridge, Leon pulled out a bottle, it looked to have amber juice of some kind. Popping it into Hop's mouth, Leon went ahead and began to get the teacups.

"Honey, sugar?" he asked.

"I'll do Honey" Raihan sat near Hop, watching him nibbling on the silicone of the bottle and drinking the juice.

"Apple juice for your Lil' one?" he asked.

"Yep, he's picky on his fruit drinks" Leon smiled as he poured the tea from the kettle into the Honey filled cups, creating a golden hue of a drink.

"So... anything else I missed lately?" Leon asked as they had tea.

"Well, aside from Gordie and Piers being an item and Milo crushing on the new Pokemon Nursery breeder on route five, not much"

"Oh, I didn't know they got someone new"

"Came from Alola to take over for her Gran, what's hilarious is she's been pointing out to frustrated trainers why two Meowths from Kanto aren't making another one, apparently Alola and Galar have something in the air and ground that changes the DNA structure in the eggs upon conception, and everstones prevent this change"

"...You know... considering Everstones keep pokemon from Evolving... That's actually pretty damn fascinating" He sipped on his tea.

"What about you? aside from taking care of this cutie here" Raihan patted Hop's head, earning a soft giggle from him.

"Well, more... home cooking and crafting stuff, I made a fairy light garden for Hop during nap or bedtime with that old glass fish tank I owned" 

"Huh... You do the glow sticks method?"

"God, those don't work, I've tried and even if they do, those glow sticks only last for so long, I used string lights, Hop likes it, helps him sleep at night"

"is 'etty" Hop chimed in.

"Oh, Sensory bottles too, helps when he needs quiet time too, right kiddo?" Leon grinned as Hop affirmed vocally.

"Sounds like you're both having fun with arts and crafts" Raihan was amused, he found it pretty adorable really.

"I'm planning to make crayons out of his old and run down ones tomorrow, my molds will be coming in tomorrow"

"'onna make Chu cayons!!!" Hop told Raihan.

"Oh! I've made Pikachu chocolates for Easter last year, I assume it's a silicone mold with like, 24 Pikachu heads?" Raihan asked.

"Yeah actually... Raihan I did not know you enjoyed baking and making candies so much"

"I started two years ago in October, was taking those week classes, but like, I didn't tell anyone at first"

"Huh... still, sounds like you have a good time doing it" Leon felt a little weird now, almost bad, for not knowing this about his "one true rival" despite knowing him for over a decade now. 

"So...What happened to your Lil Guy's forehead?" Raihan asked, noticing the bruise.

"Oh...Hop slammed himself face-first into the bathroom door trying to escape, he was so upset" chuckling, Leon patted Hop on his shoulder. Finishing their Tea, Raihan opened the tin, holding one of the cookies to Hop's mouth.

"Cookie?" he asked, which, Hop took and nibbled on it, humming in delight. Leon took one and bit into it.

"huh, they're pretty good, Homemade butterscotch?"

"Yup! it's the same as melting sugar for caramel, but you don't add cream, just the butter, oh, and a pinch of baking soda, so, not very hard for me to do at this point"

"I see" grinning, Leon sat his brother back onto the floor before collecting the empty cups and bottle, taking them to the sink and running hot water.

"You can go ahead and sit on the couch, I just wanted to make sure Hop didn't fall out of the chair" Looking where Hop was, Raihan saw he was already gone, back into the main room.

"Wow he's quick for being on all fours"

"Right? scares the hell out of me, it's why I need to make sure to lock the door during bathtime from now on when he's that little'd out, or he'll be gone before I can even turn on the faucet" Leon sounded amused, washing the dishes. Sitting down next to Hop, Raihan looked at the TV the younger male was looking at.

"Oh wow, this is still running? Think this was running when WE were infants" Raihan turned to Leon.

"Winnie the Pooh? Oh yeah, I just bought the older shows and movies, Hop's favorite Movie is the Tigger Movie"

"...You know what? Their movies aren't bad actually, but that one is pretty good from what I remember" Leon nodded at Raihan's words when he came and sat down on the couch.

"So uh... Lee..." Raihan started to his friend before Hop leaned against his brother's legs with an "oof!", then tilting his head up and smiling.

"Tigger!!!" he cheered to Leon.

"Oh, someone wants to be Tigger I take it?" he inquired, motioning his hands to Hop. Turning around, Hop sat on his knees, arms laid over his brother's lap, trying to climb onto his lap.

"Oop!!!" Leon snatched his brother up, setting him onto his knee, booping Hop's nose with a smile. Sitting next to Leon on the couch, Raihan watched Leon bouncing his brother on his knee, holding him. Happily, Hop giggled, hands cupping his brother's face, Leon cooed too his little brother.

"Are you big brother's sweetest baby brother? Yes! Yes, you are!" Hop answered Leon's questions with a wide smile of his own.

"Lub Papa lots~" he crooned.

"I love you lots too my little Hoppip! Sweet little Acorn Prince" a huge blush on his face, Raihan watched Leon play with his brother. Looking down at his hands, Raihan closed his eyes and took a deep breath, Leon too busy to notice it.

 _"Okay, Just... actions are just as good for confessing, right? and it's just on the cheek... Okay, I got this"_ he rallied internally.

"Did you know you're my favorite-est little in the whole world?" pressed their cheeks together, Leon laughed when Hop nuzzled their faces together. Sitting him back down on his knee, Leon turned to Raihan, Hop looking at him and innocently blowing raspberries.

"So, what were you about to say to me before I started playing "Tigger-Time" Rai-" Raihan, having not seen Leon move his head and intending to kiss the man on the cheek, leaned forward with such purpose and speed, that it caught both Leon and Hop off guard and by surprise.

Oh, as well as catching Leon by his lips too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had this comic sketched out BEFORE writing this chapter and that's what it's based on >8D Same with the following Chapter!
> 
> Also, Some Gordie/Piers references because, I love that ship, a lot. Maybe if I feel up to it in the future, I'll do a Fanfic about them, no promises on that.


	14. Confessions

There were things Leon was expecting when he woke up this morning. Hop still in little space, his mother calling back to chew him out, thankfully she did not do that and just having a good time talking to Raihan, maybe drinking after getting his brother to bed.

However, life decided to throw a helluva curve ball at him today, so of all the expectations Leon had of his day, being lip-locked with Raihan was not one of them.

It was so obvious, when Raihan opened his eyes, wondering why Leon's cheek felt off, he was mortified and pulled back, eyes wide and mouth hanging open, looking to have a war going on in his head. Leon had moved his head back, staring blankly, pupils dilated and a massive blush on his face. Hop kept moving his head back and forth, looking between Leon and Raihan inquisitively. Raihan was frozen in place, mouth still agape, blushing with the same intensity as his big brother and "Papa" was. Hands clutching to Leon's shirt, Hop tiled his head at Raihan.

"...Papa 'Ee??? ish Rai-Rai daddy now???" it wasn't an unreasonable question for a little kid to ask, which was currently what he was, but, that did not stop the room from feeling awkward. Head-turning, Leon just stared at Raihan, who stared back, both still in stunned silence. Both looked away from each other in opposite directions, faces hotter than G-Max wildfire. Raihan covered his face with his arm and Leon stared at the ground, lips in a pout and his cheeks puffed out. Hop just went back to watching them sit in silence for what felt like forever to him. 

Leon was the first to speak up.

"I...Didn't expect you to be so forward Rai..." his voice was quiet and full of embarrassment.

"I was trying to kiss you on the cheek, not on the lips Lee..."

"and... you were doing that because..."

"You're smart, you should know why..."

"Ah... Uh... I guess... I would have done it too if I choked up on my words... D...Does this mean we're... uh..."

"I mean... hopefully, things won't be awkward if we don't..."

"Well, I wouldn't mind if we dated..."

Listening to their almost mumbles, Hop started patting Leon's cheek while saying "bap" softly.

"Papa 'Ee... Rai-Rai Daddy now??" he asked again, this time, Raihan spoke up.

"Y-Yeah Kiddo, I guess I would be your daddy now if your Papa is fine with it" he still sounded embarrassed and still wasn't looking at them, but he was louder than before.

"I...I guess he is Hop..." Leon affirmed, just like Raihan, still processing and trying to come down from what happened. Smiling, Hop leaned his body towards Raihan. Still holding him, Leon gave Hop a puzzling look, but then gave a small smile. Holding his brother out, Leon let him crawl onto Raihan's lap.

"???" Raihan let out a confused hum, Hop sat there, giggling into his hands, before he mushed his cheek against Raihan's chest. 

"...You're way too cute for your own good Kiddo" he laughed, hugging Hop.

"Right?" Leon tickled his brother's sides, which he buried himself against Raihan, giggling harder now.

"Don't tickle the baby" Raihan joke-scolded, pulling Hop closer "shielding" him from his big brother's onslaught of tickles. Leon stuck his tongue out at him for the comment and Hop laughed into Raihan's shirt.

"'tect me daddeeee" Hop "whined" through his happy peals of laughter. The two men laughed at that. Leon's phone let out a chime of sorts, checking it, he smiled.

"Hop, it's sleepy time" hearing that, Hop huffed.

"Buh Nah 'ired" he argued, only to yawn and rub at his eyes.

"That yawn says otherwise Sweetie" stroking his hair, Leon waited for Hop to unlatch from Raihan so he could lay him down to sleep. Unfortunately, Hop was stubborn and held to Raihan tighter.

"You want me to take him to his bed?" Raihan asked sheepishly. Leon snorted but nodded in response.

"I think he likes his new daddy too much to let Papa take him to bed" he chuckled, hearing a huff from Hop. Picking him up Bridal style, Raihan looked down at the sleepy little who rubbed at his eyes more.

"Come on Sleepy-Lil, off to bed with ya" Raihan said carrying him off. Leon grinned at this. He felt pretty lucky with how understanding and good Raihan was with his little brother. Picking up the Ponyta plush, he made his way to the guest room, after all, Hop was much easier to get to sleep with a story. When he entered the room, Raihan was struggling to get Hop to unlatch from him. He couldn't help it, he held his stomach and covered his mouth to stifle his utter amusement as Hop pouted sleepily, pressed himself closer to the Dragon Gym leader.

"Lee... Help" Raihan whispered, only to half-heartedly glare at Leon dying on the spot from suppressed cackling.

"Ohhh, oh, I'm coming, I'm coming, but once Hop gets ahold of you, his grip is like iron, meaning you're stuck Dragon Daddy" Leon sniggered. Sitting on the bed, Leon pulled one of the books from the mini bookshelf, it had a shiny Wooloo amongst a flock of Wooloo. He placed the stuffie between Hop and Raihan, sitting on the other side of Hop. 

"Woowy" Hop tiredly cooed, reaching for the book.

"Uh-Huh, this is Moon the Wooloo" Leon smiled at Hop who turned to Look at his brother, one hand clutching to Raihan's shirt still. Laying down so Hop could see the pictures, Leon turned to the first page. Seeing how he was trapped by the vice grip of his new boyfriend's brother, Raihan decided to lay down. Flopping down, Raihan was careful to move the little's arm so he didn't hurt him by accident.

"Paci in before I read little one" Leon said, plucking the object from the clip and putting it into Hop's mouth. The suckling was more audible than usual as Hop trilled and cooed, wiggling into the sheets more, hugging his stuffie tighter. Now Leon was ready to begin reading the story to his sleepy brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hop is a treasure and this chapter was so soft for me write =w=


	15. Pillow Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of Attempted Suicide, and Chapter Do-over

"Does he usually sleep this hard?" Raihan asked, gently stroking Hop's back.

"Oh yeah, he goes dead to the world during nap time" Leon had turned onto his side to look at Raihan.

"Like seriously, he slept through me berating the shit out of our mum yesterday"

"Wait, you actually chewed your mom out on call?" Raihan's surprise didn't upset Leon.

"She got mad at me for spending my money "pointlessly" and not getting her permission to take him to see a Psychologist"

"...Isn't he on your health insurance though?" Raihan's eyebrow cocked at that.

"I reminded her of that, as well as the fact I pay most of the medical bills in the family that our insurances don't cover, she said it was pointless because he wasn't in school anymore" rubbed the back of his head.

"and I got pretty damn pissed at her reminded her how they treated him when he was in school, then I uh... Asked if she was going to ask if she even wanted to know how he was doing at all or she was only calling to interrogate me, then I hung up..." he was pretty red in the face.

"So... Had to tell Sonia to take anything she said to her with a grain of salt, she's gonna be pleasant to deal with next time am I right?" he asked.

"Honestly Lee? Good on you for calling her out on it, even if she's your mum, that doesn't mean she magically knows better than you on what's good for her children and good for you protecting your little brother, Lil guy needs to know someone in his family has his back and will support him" he smiled a bit.

"Yeah... can't just... imagine how his mindset was that he stuck to regressing as a way to cope" Leon had a sad smile on his face, kissing Hop on the forehead, making him lean closer to his brother.

"Hey... none of that self-deprecating stuff, you're a good brother even before all of this" Raihan sat up, having finally gotten Hop to release his vice grip on him.

"And he has someone in his family he can rely on to be there for him, or do you forget that you're "Papa" right now to him?" he asked, smiling a little.

"Yeah... he is my precious little one" Leon said before going quiet, he sat up.

"Hey, Rai... I know you don't like talking about it but... what was your relationship with your family like? I know you and your dad didn't get along well... but..."

"Ma was a pushover and didn't try and defend me from that jackass from the worst of his matches, instead just told me I needed to make peace with the old man and not hold a grudge... He was worse to my sister just because she was a girl..." the Dragon tamer shook.

"I... didn't know you had a sister" Leon's voice was quiet, why would Raihan never talk about siblings?

"Because I never bring her up... She's the reason why I never looked back after I left" he was choking up, Leon frowned hard, just what happened?

"Rai..." the Gym leader wiped his eyes.

"I still visit her, I just... I can't forgive them, not after she tried to... Th...There was a reason I snapped and said what I did the last time I was over, I shouldn't have said it but... It's terrifying just from the perspective of the younger brother, to see your own sibling try and end their own life and all your parents can do is cry about how bad it makes them look and their own feelings" He wiped his eyes, trying to shake off his crying and keep it quiet. Quiet, Leon's eyes widened as he stared blankly at Raihan's back. It put his protective nature over and how aggressive he was about his family into a much dimmer, but new light.

"Sorry... this was meant to be peaceful and I'm over here digging up some pretty heavy personal shit" Raihan strained with a laugh.

"No...Don't apologize, Rai, it happens and I shouldn't have asked... But... You sound like you lost the Parent lottery pretty damn bad" Leon smiled when he heard Raihan give a small laugh at that.

"Sure did, Sis is cool... She actually wants to meet everyone, especially you" he blushed and rubbed his head. Blinking, Leon broke into a bit of a smile.

"Honestly? Now that you told me you have an older sister, I do want to meet her, you sound very fond of her if she's the only family you still talk to" Raihan just grinned at that.

"she's great, next time I go out to see her I'll try and talk her into coming down to Hammerlock with her girlfriend and her brother"

"..Her girlfriend? now that's not a developement I was expecting" Leon said sitting up on his elbows.

"Oh yeah, a 6 year relationship that's still going strong, as for her girlfriend's brother, he's Hop's age, you met him briefly, as for why you never met my sister... Well, she lives in our Grandparents' old home, after what happened to her, my grandparents took their asses to court for custody of us both and proceeded to write them out of their will" He looked at the ceiling.

"They titled her their house and property after they passed and we both used the money they left to us to renovate and update the house and added a tiny house and coop, helped get our minds off them passing... A-Anyway! She has a very well paying Job and works remote from home most of the time, her girlfriend is actually a jack of trades handy woman and mechanic and her brother Victor was in the Gym challenge" he sat up. Gears turning, Leon tried to put a face to the name.

"Victor...Victor..." he tapped his fingers together, before snapping his fingers.

"He lost to Marnie in the Semi-Finals! the trainer with the Altaria and Talonflame!" he exclaimed.

"Hop talked about him before, said he was a pretty shy kid" he smiled at Raihan.

"But his battling put Hop on his toes as he told me, that Victor?" Raihan nodded at him.

"Yeah, honestly I'm proud of him, he was shy yeah, but from where he first started, he's made leaps in improvement, Sis has gotten pretty close with him so it's just a matter of who proposes to who first" he laughed.

"What about you? are you close with them too?" he asked.

"Not as much as Jasmine is with them, but Serenity and I do game together every Saturday from 5 PM to 1 AM" Leon blinked at that.

"Jasmine is your sister's name? What's your age gap and what does she do?" Leon asked, looking at Raihan curiously.

"She's five years older than me, she does tech support and computer science" Raihan started, smiling.

"Outside of her work she enjoys cooking, gaming, gardening, and raising Swablu"

"That explains why Victor had an Altaria then" he chuckled with a turn, laying on his stomach.

"Yeah, our grandparents' home is near the station that takes us to Kalos, so sometimes, their Pokemon immigrate over there, more often than not, she'll send me Photos of what got into her backyard the following Morning, there was even a God damn Fossil Pokemon just sleeping under her balcony patio"

"Wh-What?"

"Right? two-foot little monster, she named him Rex after the Toy Story character"

"Who...Who lets a fossil Pokemon just roam around? That's bound to give someone a heart attack if they saw that first thing after waking up" he pointed out.

"Nah this little bastard is actually kinda cute, other regions also know how to reconstruct their ancient Pokemon correctly, Cara Liss just creates Chimaric abominations and calls it a day" unable to help it, Leon snorted before laughing at that. Raihan pulled out his phone, showing Leon a photo of the Pokemon in question. It was a sleeping little brown dinosaur looking monster.

"It's called a Tyrunt, it's a rock and dragon Pokemon"

"Oh, you can't tell Gordie that" Leon sniggered.

"A fossil Pokemon? AND it's rock type? he'd lose his whole ass mind" Raihan laughed.

"But aside from being a bastard to me when I visit, Rex adores Jasmine and Serenity and has decided he's their lap Pokemon when they're on their downtime, he also plays fetch with Victor" Leon began to imagine the Pokemon he just saw chasing down a ball or stick, making him snort loudly.

"That's amazing to picture" he said with a sleepy smile.

"Yeah... Hey Lee? Thanks... for listening to me about... you know" Raihan started to him, blushing a bit.

"I never talk about my family because I always worry everyone would try and pity me or judge me for disowning my parents like I used to get from not so great therapists" he curled up a little bit.

"Hey... it wasn't pretty, but you did bring up some... unfavorable possibilities I need to prevent as best I can, and you listened to me feeling like a shit brother, it's only fair you let out some insecurities" he smiled at Raihan, reaching his hand out and gripping to Raihan's hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't like the stuff I put in the first draft of this chapter, this is much better to me personally.


	16. Art break 1 of ???

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm currently stumped on the next chapter, so here's some art until I can get out of the writer's Block for it!  
> WARNING: ALL ART IN THIS IS ABDL CENTRIC, PLEASE DO NOT LOOK IF YOU DO NOT LIKE SAID CONTENT, THANK YOU.  
> Also no asking or suggesting art to me please, I actually despise being asked to draw things for free, if you wanna say "Please continue making cute Hop art" that's one thing, just no "Can you draw-", that's all I ask of you.
> 
> also despite my handles, you will not see this art on there yet.

Hop's outfit is cute and I want to incorporate it into the story later on (I know how to I just need to figure out chapter 16 first)

Comic Doodle of Leon and Hop

Soft Hop and Leon Snuggles

Hop being cute

Hop and Victor at the park, Perhaps a small spoiler for a Future Chapter in the Story? 👀  



	17. 16: Hot Chocolate Conversations

Vision blurred as he began to stir, Hop sat up with a soft yawn and rubbing of his eyes. He noticed he was in "his" room, but he didn't remember much, just that he was tired after the visit to the Psychiatrist and took a nap after Leon read to him. Looking down, Hop noticed... When was he put into this Onesie? last he checked he was in a Blue Yamper T-shirt... Unless... looking around him, he saw that Leon was asleep, Leon didn't... usually sleep closer to the wall though... Turning to his other side, he was alarmed to see Raihan laying closer to the outside of the bed.

"Wh..." He held his head, a blush starting to creep more and more onto his face as the memories began to very faintly, come to mind. 

Oh, God.

Now it was coming back, that he was stuck in deep, _deep_ headspace.

Oh no...

"Lee... Lee?" Hop said quietly, trying to shake his brother, face scarlet now. Leon yawned and turned towards the wall, he was out. Hop fiddled with his hands before a hand gently rested on his shoulder. Jumping, Hop turned his head, Raihan held a finger to his mouth, signaling Hop to remain quiet, then nodded his head to the door. Hop gave a small nod, carefully getting off the bed... Well, not without his legs feeling wobbly and shakey. Raihan caught him, holding him up, taking his hand. Looking at the ground, Hop's face was scarlet, holding to Raihan's hand tightly, he was having trouble walking.

"I... can't walk right now..." he whispered to Raihan, embarrassment evident on his face. Raihan merely shrugged in response, kneeling to Hop's level, Raihan easily plucked Hop off the ground, carrying him out of the room. Burying his face against Raihan's shoulder, Hop let out a soft whine, not that Raihan was bothered by any of this.

"You need a change... Where do you keep your nappies?" Raihan asked, much to Hop's Dismay.

"In... Uh... Lee keeps them in my room and the bathroom..." he felt Raihan stop, and then do a turn. The creaking of the bathroom door filled his ears, as Raihan sat him on the toilet seat. Hop reached for the poppers on his onesie, unsnapping them.

"Uhm... I think I can handle changing myself" Hop told him.

"Okay, Thinking you can, and knowing you can, are different things Kiddo" Raihan patted Hop's head as he pulled the Onesie up. He had to look away, face flustered as the Dragon tamer peeled the tapes off of the nappy.

"So... since you're back in your big boy headspace, do you remember anything?" Raihan asked him.

"I... It's coming back, Uhm... Oh God" he buried his face in his hands as Raihan finished changing him.

"Did...Did I really call you..?"

"Yeah, it's okay Kiddo" tossing the garbage away, Raihan snapped the Onesie back up and took Hop's hands, standing him up, his legs weren't shakey anymore, he took a couple of steps, stumbling just a little before he steadied himself. He nodded to Raihan, he was fine now as he followed him out. They went right to the kitchen, Raihan got out a Pot, Milk, and Chocolate.

"So, you seem pretty embarrassed about what you called Me, you feel the same about what you call Lee?" Raihan asked, pouring the milk into the pot, setting the burner onto a Low setting. Hop rested his chin on his hands.

"I just... it's weird, isn't it? He's my big brother, not my dad... I hate that I think like that" he told him, voice soft. Raihan gave a thoughtful hum at that.

"You'd be surprised really, it's not as uncommon or weird as you would think" he stirred the Milk, adding in Chunks of the chocolate.

"Your dad was never in the picture, right? And your grandpa didn't exactly do much in helping raise you, it was Leon who took over male Role model, right?" he glanced over at Hop who had a thoughtful look on his face.

"Yeah... but... Lee already does so much for me, I don't want him to feel like he needs to be my dad too..."

"Even if the feeling is mutual?" the milk began to turn into a nice creamy chocolate color.

"huh??" Hop looked up at Raihan.

"I'll tell you what the rest of us gym leaders thought" Raihan smiled.

"If there wasn't evidence that you were brothers, we'd all be suspecting you really were his son, with how he dotes and melts around you, I have no doubts that you are the most important person to your brother" Raihan said with a smile. 

"Really?" Hop sounded so hopeful to that, Raihan gave a small laugh at that. getting two Mugs out, he poured the now Hot chocolate into one, setting it down in front of Hop. Taking it into his hands, Hop smelled it, enjoying the scent.

"if you don't mind me asking, when did you start thinking of Leon like that?" Hop paused at the question, fingers tapping on the mug.

"Well...I...I think forever really, it's just been more intrusive when I started regressing... I don't like my deeper regressive episodes, because I can't control or filter my thoughts" Hop admitted.

"Like seeing Leon as your Papa?" Raihan took a sip of his mug, eyes on Hop who shrank in his seat.

"Y...Yeah... I do know the first time I got stuck deep in that headspace, I was miserable because I was alone"

"Miserable? Or Scared?" Raihan tilted his head.

"Miserable after I woke up, but, very scared when I regressed... I'm an overly clingy mess when I'm regressed... Surprised Lee tolerates it as well as he does"

"As I said, you're very important to your brother, you're a person with feelings too Hop, and... Well, since I'm with your Brother which to little you means I'm now "daddy", you're important to me too" Hop stared at Raihan past his mug he was drinking, face going red.

"You... really aren't bothered by that?" Hop asked softly of him, looking at the drink.

"If I was you think I would have stuck around after you fell asleep?" it was such a strange feeling to Hop, that his big brother and Raihan cared so much about him. Staring intently at the table, Hop let out a shakey breath.

"Do...Do you think Lee would be upset if I wanted to call him that... even if I'm not little? I... he might let it slide when I'm little but... He might not like it if I-" Hop quieted down when a pair of arms wrapped around from behind him. A pair of Lip pressed the back of his head.

"L...Lee?" tilting his head up, he was greeted to his big brother who was smiling at him.

"Hey, woke up to you two missing from the bed, and I may have been listening for the past 10 minutes" he then hugged Hop closer.

"Wait...So... You heard..."

"Yeah, I felt awkward about it too, but... I have definitely been acting more like a dad than a brother, even more obvious if the past week has said anything about that" he stated with a laugh.

"And Hop? you don't need to be little to call me Papa okay? If that's what you feel comfortable calling me" smiling a little, Hop turned his whole body, hugging his brother. Raihan just enjoyed his hot Chocolate, a Cheshire grin hidden by the mug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HAVE RETURNED AFTER WRITER'S BLOCK  
> WOOOOO  
> Anyway have some more Raihan and Hop interactions.


	18. 17: Day out with Daddy Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leon has to work, Hop wants to get out of the apartment.

"If he regresses, then know that nap time is at 1:30 after lunch, His favorite shows are Winnie the Pooh, Yamper and Pumpkaboo's Blues, and-

"Lee, We'll be fine, Go do your chairman duties" Raihan laughed as he nudged Leon out the door. The purple-haired man gave Hop one last kiss on the cheek.

"You be good for Rai-Rai while I'm gone, okay?" he said to Hop who smiled at him.

"I'll keep him out of trouble Lee!" that gave Leon a good laugh as he leaned forward, kissing Raihan on the cheek as well, Leon closed the door behind him. 

"So...What do you want to do now that it's just us?" Raihan asked Hop.

"Uh...Good question... Did Lee give you a spare key to the apartment?" he asked him.

"Feeling cooped up then?"

"A little bit yeah" Hop nodded to him.

"Well... Hm..." He checked his phone, looking it over.

"Okay, why don't you pack up your bag then? Just in case you slip into little space, the International Cafe is Open" he was smiling at the boy who looked excited.

"Is that where they have all the other Pokemon not found in Galar?" he was almost bouncing.

"Sure do! They have some new Pokemon coming in too, Like Hoenn Zigzagoons and Tropias" He saw Hop practically bounce down the halls as he gave Leon a text that they were going around Wyndon for a bit. He got a thumbs up in response from Leon.

**KingOftheBattleTower: Send me photos and there's a spare key in my Sunflower pot in the kitchen window!! Oh, make sure Hop has some spare clothes too!**

**DesertDragonPrince: Will do.**

"Uhm... Is it okay if I go out like this?" Hop's voice poised a shy question. Raihan turned, seeing just what he meant. He was wearing a pastel yellow tube top dress, lavender T-shirt, leggings, and shoes that matched his top's colors.

"Oh My God" hand over his amused grin, Raihan couldn't help but find the outfit cute. Cheeks flushed, Hop looked down at the ground.

"It covers my nappy... is... is it too weird?" he asked him, feeling more embarrassed at the possibility Raihan's reaction wasn't positive.

"What? No, no, I'm not laughing at you, you look adorable" Raihan waved his hands nervously.

"Are you sure you want to go out like that? I don't want you to get upset if others don't take well to it" Hop nodded to him.

"I can handle strangers being mean, that's all they are" what a positive way of thinking. Nodding, Raihan went into the kitchen, feeling around the pot for the key.

"Leon wants you to bring an extra pair of clothes and he said to have fun" the way Hop broke into a huge smile was just precious to the Weather specialist.

\--

The first thing the two did was check out the clothing store and battle cafe, Hop was determined to get one of the Sweets rewards. Raihan watched him battle the manager while eating a cake roll. He didn't usually see the kiddo's Toxtricity or Heatmore often, but, he was glad Hop didn't decide to let Zamazenta out for this fight, otherwise, probably terrify the shit out of the other patrons. He won rather easily, and for his reward, he got a purple ribbon sweet, which he excitedly jumped up and down and thanked the manager for giving him.

"You get the sweet you wanted I take it?" Raihan inquired with a smile when Hop ordered and sat down.

"Uh-Huh! and if I want the Alcremie I want, I gotta wait til night to do it" Raihan sipped his lemonade with a very... curious look, Fairy types weren't his forte, so he had forgotten Alcremie had... many different forms, it was hard to wrap his head around the fact it was time-sensitive, not just time of the day but length of...

"You spin to evolve them right?" He asked Hop who nodded.

"Yeah! and depending on how long you do it and what time of day, you get a different look! Gloria and I wound up finding a bunch of Milcery in the Dens in the wild area, ones that can turn Gigantimax, she was so excited she uh... "liberated" Bede from his gym leader Duties to go Milcery hunting with us" Hop said with a bit of a laugh. The imagery of Gloria practically abducting Bede made Raihan snort with complete amusement.

"I bet he appreciated that, after grumbling right?" Hop nodded, trying to suppress his fit of giggles.

"I remember going Appletun and Flapple hunting with Milo, had to bring out my Torkal with drought, we also brought Kabu and Leon along, poor Milo, being surrounded by all fire type Pokemon" he snorted, Hop giggled even harder at Raihan's story.

"So you all help each other catch Den Pokemon?" Hop tilted his head.

"Yep, even though Piers doesn't use Dynamax, there are Pokemon with their hidden abilities, so he joins, though, he has to choose his Malamar, Toxtricity, or Skutank sometimes to deal with the fairy types, hell, his Toxtricity is capable of Gigantimaxing, but, you know"

"Why doesn't he like Dynamaxing or Gigantimaxing anyway?" Hop asked nibbling on his croissant.

"His city can't do it aside? The protective fields that show up around the stands during battles were... very lacking back in the day, and well... His dad wound up hospitalized when he came to Piers's final gym match because of an overpowered attack breaking the system" he looked at the ground scratching his cheek. Hop looked aghast at his story.

"Yeah... Thank God there were a ton of powerful Pokemon and trained individuals to keep the damages to a minimum, and our Gym challenge was put on Hiatus so newer, stronger systems could be put in place, but it left a very big scar on Piers' Psyche, kinda why we don't ever rib or tease him over it" Raihan finished, a tense quietness hanging between them now.

"That... would be really scary... Like... but I think I kinda get it... sorta..."

"Because of Eternatus?" Raihan asked gently, Fingers pressing to his cup a little harder, Hop looked at it for a long time.

"...Yeah... and Lee..."

"You were pretty distraught once the adrenaline of the battle rushed off since I had to get you and Gloria off the roof, I know Leon saw a therapist for a little bit before taking the full run of the tower" Raihan stated. Hop gave a weak smile at that.

"I... never really got that much... I wonder if I just... should be more assertive at home?" he asked looking down. Raihan frowned at what he said.

"They didn't even care to get you the help you needed in school if your mum has to be "pushed" into getting you help you obviously need she's failing as a parent" his tone was very matter of factly and Hop couldn't help but look surprised.

"I'm not wrong, am I? Look at how you're coping from well... Her lack of parenting, not that what you're doing is bad but, you get my point?" he asked Hop who looked at his fingers which fiddled in his lap.

"Yeah... and... Well... I know she almost caught me, and said that as long as I wasn't using a bottle for me... cause she raised me to be independent"

"Raise or forced you to be too early?" Raihan half muttered, making Hop wince.

"Sorry... I've heard this from Leon before so I'm just... not very filtered" Hop nodded at that as they finished their food and drink. While they finished, Raihan's hand did press against Hop's nappy, which was wet. Squeaking, Hop tugged the skirt of his dress down. Chuckling, Raihan patted his head, taking his hand as they stood up. Hop allowed Raihan to lead him to the bathroom for a change.

"I didn't mean to..." Hop mumbled weakly to Raihan who ruffled his hair as he pulled the large table of wood mounted to the wall. Hop was... curious to what that had been, evidently, an adult-sized changing table?

"Told you, it's not uncommon for Trainers to wear nappies when they're on their journeys, which means this is normal too" Raihan explained while helping Hop get onto the table. Cheeks flushed, Hop looked away as he was getting changed, this was pushing his little buttons, hard.

"You're such a sweet little Princess aren't you?" Hop covered his eyes with a soft whine at what his big brother's boyfriend was saying, but on the other hand...

"Am cute princess Daddy" Hop babbled innocently back, earning soft chuckles. He felt a dry nappy secured to him and something being slipped over it. Soon enough, he felt Raihan picking him up, tugging the leggings up over his nappy.

"Do you want Daddy to carry you out of the cafe?"

"P'ease? I promise to walk after" He knew it would look odd in public, but he didn't care at the moment. With a soft laugh, Raihan obliged the little one and carried him out, the purple and black bag slung over his shoulder. He made soft hums with pats on his back, paying more attention to Hop than the patrons.

"Raihan??" He heard a familiar voice, in front of him, which when he looked up, it was Gordie, Piers was with them, both men looking at him with curious and questioning eyes.

"Oh hey Gord, Piers, out on a date?" he asked them.

"Uh... yeah, and you have a..."

"Hop, I have a Hop" he told them, patting the boy's back. Oh, the look on their faces was hilarious really, though, Piers looked like he caught onto what was going on right away.

"Ah, Leon know?" was all the dark trainer asked of him.

"Oh yeah, was the first actually, but he's got work you know? so I'm in charge of the Lil Cutie til then" now Piers looked amused, nodding, he took Gordie's hand.

"We can catch up later, I'm sure your Lil Princess wants to go" Raihan was rather grateful, even if Gordie soon realized what was going on as well, giving Raihan a bit of a knowing smirk.

"'bout time, see ya later Rai"

"Thanks, we're heading to the International cafe in the amusement park, if you two wanna catch up!" and with that, Raihan was gone, Hop curling up against him, seeing the gym leaders and waving to them as they were leaving the cafe.


	19. 18: Day out with Daddy Part II

Happy giggles caught the Dragon tamer's ears as he watched Hop happily petting and feeding the Pokemon that roamed the cafe, right now a Mareep was resting their head on Hop's lap as he gave them very gentle pets and scratches.

"They're just as fluffy as Wooloo are!!" he told Raihan, a massive smile on his face. Raihan himself gave a Bagon a treat, it happily going to town on said snack. He snapped another Photo to later send as a pack to Leon, others which included Hop playing some of the park games and winning prizes, wearing a Pikachu eared headband, and being piled by the Hoenn Zigzagoons, Furrets, Skitties, Skiddos, and other Pokemon at the cafe. He knew Leon was going to adore the Photos with how cute they are.

"Are you happy you came out here with Daddy today?" he asked him, Hop nodding enthusiastically. 

"Uh-huh, I'm having lots of fun!" that made Raihan smile, patting Hop on the head before checking his watch.

"We got a bit longer before you need to go down for naptime" he told him. Hop gave a soft pout at that. Carefully, he stood up.

"Can we look at the gift shop?" he asked Raihan. 

"Sure, you want a stuffie of one of the Pokemon?" Raihan grinned when Hop blushed at that. Still, he got up and followed the boy to the gift shop, where Hop looked at the toys. There was a massive array of Pokemon plushie he'd never seen before, Pokemon not seen in Galar. One stuffie drew his attention and his eyes lit up. Taking it off the Shelf he ran and held it up to Raihan.

"What'cha got there Hop?" 

"Is a Ponyta! Papa said he collected stuffies of them!! I'mma get it for him!" he sounded so proud of himself. 

"You're such a sweet little princess" he chuckled, ruffling his hair. Looking around, he did spot a Mareep stuffie, picking it up, right as his phone buzzed. Raihan read over the message sent to him while he walked up to where Hop was bouncing up and down waiting to get to the cashier.

"Where did you want to go for lunch later?" 

"Mmmm... Can we get Macaroni and Cheese an' Chicken?" he asked him.

"Sure thing, but let's go visit Papa after this, he's on break soon, and you can give him your gift" Hop was smiling widely at this, leaning against Raihan as they got to the cashier.

\---

Leon hummed in thought, the paperwork he went through off to the side in a neat stack, but he kept reading over the articles on his phone.

"I should be able to do this without much hassle... If Mum will cooperate with me on it... But I should get a lawyer on standby just in case?" he thought aloud. He closed his phone when he heard the sound of the doors opening up, then greeted by Raihan and Hop. He put a hand over his mouth seeing his brother's outfit, trying to hide his amusement. Hop wasted no time running and jumping into Leon's arms, who caught him, the chair skidding back.

"Well someone sure is happy to see me" He laughed, Hop smiling up at him.

"I got you something, Papa!" Hop told him. Raihan opened the bag, pulling out the plush.

"Oh, you go to the gift shop?" Leon smiled as Hop took the stuffie and then held it up to Leon. Chuckling, he took it and kissed Hop on the cheek.

"I love it Hop, thank you, Sweetie, have you been good for Daddy Rai so far today?" Hop smiled at Leon's question and nodded.

"I got to play with the Skitties and Zigzagoons at the amusement park!" he exclaimed happily while his brother cuddled him and looked up at Raihan who was grinning and giving him a thumbs up.

"We ran into Gordie and Piers at the Battle Cafe too, and Hop won a Ribbon Sweet from Richard today"

"With Toxy and Burner!" He told him raising his arms happily.

"Oh, you got a Milcery to evolve then Lil Guy?"

"Uh Huh!!! Glo, Bede, an' me all got them from the Dens!!" he bounced in Leon's lap.

"An they can Gigantimax!" he was so proud of himself that Leon couldn't help but smile.

"I remember Sonia telling me about that, she had you catch a few for her too right?"

"Uh-Huh! She wanted ta study them an' figure out how they gotted the factor" he rested against him.

"She also told me about you having a run-in with a Charizard Den" he was amused, Hop frowned a little.

"It was scary..." he told him, well that was a curious little comment from him.

"But you like Ignius don't you?" Leon asked.

"Yah, but he's yours an' tame, notta wild Charizard angry it got disturbed" thinking on it, that would be rather... alarming to face a pissed off Charizard that was in its Giant form.

"Buh Elle managed to catch her, she named her Smolder" it took Leon a second to realize Hop meant one of Kabu's gym trainers, which, thinking on it, he shouldn't be too shocked to hear that.

"You sure are in those Dens a lot for Sonia aren't you Buddy?"

"Uh-Huh! I get's to see lots of Pokemon in them and help others catch them or get my own, like Blossom" he waved his arms a little.

"Whose that Hop?" 

"She's an Ivysaur! She's friend shaped and likes cuddling me" well... The two men looked at each other at that one, it was rare for Bulbasuars and Ivysaurs to come out too often, Hop must have gotten lucky and got them when they come out more often. Still, it was amusing to hear Hop tell them about his adventures into the Dens. Though, Leon nearly choked when Hop showed him the Pokemon he caught.

"She's pretty right?" he asked Leon who just let his mouth hang a bit open.

"Yeah... Hop Sweetie, you... do realize that's not how an Ivysaur usually looks right?" he asked a bit weakly.

"Is not??? I think Milo said that to me too" well, now Raihan was holding back laughter, Hop was so innocent to not realize he caught a Shiny Pokemon, evidently.

"You know what Shiny pokemon are right Kiddo?"

"Yeah! Ohhhhhh, thas what you mean" Hop said before giggling.

"Is Kinda like Sidia??" He asked Leon, who laughed sheepishly.

"Yeah, like Sidia"

"How come you dun use her Big brother?" Hop asked him, looking up at him with inquisitive eyes.

"She's a bit too shy for the cameras and battles, so she likes being a couch log most days, though, her and Ignius do make some strong offspring"

"Like Glo's Charmander?" he smiled at Leon who felt a sudden rush of guilt, he had forgotten for a moment, that he did gift the new Champion of Galar a Charmander when he didn't do much for his brother.

"Yeah... Uh... Hop? I'm sorry I didn't uh... well..." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Is okay!" Hop smiled, he knew right away what his brother was thinking about.

"They fit you an' Gloria more than me! Plus Sonia gave me a Squirtle" that... did not help Leon feel much better, not Hop admitting he wasn't a good match for Charmander, but that Sonia gave him a Pokemon to make up for his lack of consideration to his brother.

"Right..." Hop frowned hearing his brother's tone deflate and patted his face with both his hands.

"Is okay big brother, 'm not upset about it, never was" it was.. surprising how Genuine that was.

"Didn't know about it til Glo told me about it, 'm not allowed in your room unless you're home" and... at that point, Leon wasn't even that surprised, even if that was completely rational to do. Leon gave him a small smile and kissed him on the forehead before carefully setting him onto his feet.

"Now, why don't you and Rai go and have fun before lunch? I gotta get back to work and will be home way before dinner, okay?" Hop looked at him with a small pout but took Raihan's hand.

"See you later Lee, I'll text you when we get back to the apartment," Raihan said waving goodbye to him. Grinning, Leon waved back to him as he went back to his research and work.

He'd talk to Raihan later.

\---

The bottles crashed to the ground as Hop launched the ball at them. He cheered excitedly at this as he looked at the prizes, finger tapping on his mouth. One of which he saw was a Swablu. He pointed to it with a big smile on his face, hugging it when he got it.

"Didn't know you liked Swablu's Hop" Hop gave a soft smile, looking up at Raihan.

"It reminds me of Victor, he was really nice" he then frowned.

"But I haven't seen him since the gym challenge an' we never exchanged numbers, I dunno where he lives either" he hugged it a little closer. Humming, Raihan nodded to him.

"Well, I might be able to help with that, his big sister and I know each other" he told him, not expect Hop to almost grab onto him, eyes wide and shining.

"Can you ask if he can come to Wyndon so we can play together???" there was so much hope in that question, Raihan just smiled a bit.

"Let me ask okay? We might be able to arrange that" Hop let out a happy squeal as he hugged Raihan tightly made him smile.

Besides, Hop would probably really like a playmate like him, wouldn't he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ignius- Leon's Charizard, name is a play on the word Ignite  
> Sidia- Leon's Female Shiny Charizard, Ignius's Mate, Her name is based off Obsidian  
> Toxy- Toxtricty  
> Burner- Heatmor


	20. 19: Lashing Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Verbal Abuse

The pained screams of the woman were soon replaced with the wails of a baby as the nurses worked tirelessly around her.

"Congratulations, it's a little boy, you must be proud" the Doctor told the woman who rested on the bed, breathing labored. The babe was placed against her chest and she looked at him, he was pale, sticky, and looked so disgusting as most babies fresh from the womb did. But, unlike with her first son where she had been overwhelmed with love, she didn't feel it with this one. She remained silent for a long time, the professionals under the assumption the woman was far too exhausted from giving birth.

"We'll give you some time to recover, for now, we'll call him Baby Aceae" and like that, the nurses wheeled him away, giving the mother a chance to recover and rest. Her mind wandered, maybe she should go through with her plan to give the boy up, she still had Leon to raise and she was happy with him, no need to split her attention.

Unfortunately, that wasn't going to be possible from the looks of it, as the moment her oldest saw him, he immediately latched to his baby brother, cuddling him and peppering his little face and head with kisses.

"Mum he's so cute and tiny! Look! He has my finger!" the child was grinning so wide and brightly as he nuzzled the newborn who gave a cute little yawn.

"I see that Leon..." her voice was hollow.

"I'm gonna teach him how to walk, and throw a Pokeball, and battle and-

"Leon dear... Mummy might not be taking him home..." she was going to ease it into him, but he was getting too ahead of himself that she needed to put a stop to him right there.

She wished she would have kept quiet, as her son looked at her like she had just put his Charmander down.

\----

Leon took a deep breath, trying to soothe his nerves.

"Rotom, call Mom" he said aloud.

"Calling Mom bzzt!" he felt nervous, fiddling with his coat and a stress ball on the desk as the phone rang. He was then met with his mother's face on the phone.

"Leon, good to hear from you" she sounded pleasant, as though he didn't chew her out the other day.

"Hey mum, how are you?"

"I'm good, doing dishes while my tea brews, did you need something?" she asked. Deep inhale, and gently exhaling, he looked at his mom.

"I wanted to ask about Hop..." he watched her smile turn into a bit of a frown.

"Yes? what about him?"

"Well... I wanted to ask... would... would you be opposed to... To Hop living with me from now on?" he tried to say it as gently as he could, but his body got hot, especially when she looked at him blankly. Soon, she began to pour her beverage into a cup.

"Sounds to me like you want more than that Leon" she told him cooly. Looking at the desk, Leon began to sweat.

"Well... Yes... I... was hoping you would transfer custody to me too... I just feel that Hop would be happier with me"

"And you have proof of this?" she asked him, sipping her tea, looking at him directly.

"Yeah... He's been very open over here about... stuff, and I think it might be better if he lived with me" he sounded uneasy, as though trying to be delicate as possible of his request. Leon was worried, worried she'd fight him on this, as though he was slapping her in the face, he didn't want to get lawyers more involved than needed, so hopefully, she would do it with little resist-

"I'm giving him 30 Days to come pack up his things then, you can have him" that caught him off guard, looking as though he saw a ghost.

"Just...Just like that?" Leon asked, he didn't want a fight, but she agreed far more easily than he had expected.

"Yes, just like that Leon, if he wants to be ungrateful and say things about me to you, then you can have him, get whoever you need so I can sign over rights to you" a freezing chill ran down Leon's spine, then a wave of heat, he looked at her in shock.

"Mum... He's your youngest son" Leon had a look of discomfort on his face.

"Who has no respect for me in this household and could be telling you lies"

"But... Mum, you admitted that you thought to get him help was a waste the other day... He hasn't lied about anything he's told me..." he responded weakly to her.

"Because it was, he should be thankful I kept him instead of giving him up like I originally wanted to, like I said, 30 days to get his stuff and to get out of my house" Leon's stomach twisted and knotted uncomfortably and he felt sick to his stomach. He wasn't sure if he should laugh, cry, or scream with just how... Callous his mother was being over this, in his favor, yes, but it felt vile.

"Right... I'll... Come next weekend with Sonia to get his things and update you on the lawyer's side too... Bye" he ended the call a bit too quickly. Standing up, he began to pace around the office, body going ice cold, and then heat up. He knew one thing though.

no way in hell was he allowing his little brother back in that house after this, even if their mother cried and begged for forgiveness.

\----

Giggling, Hop built a town of his blocks, he had woken up from his naptime not too long ago. Raihan was very nice and cozy to snuggle with during naptime. The clank of the block made him smile as he looked at his "town" of blocks, plushies around them too as he clapped happily.

Soon his phone began to ring.

"???" Rotom flew up, showing who was calling.

"Mama's calling??" he gave a wide smile at that.

"Mama never calls! maybe she wants to see me!" he pressed the call button. He sat up, ready to greet her happily.

"Hi, Mama!!! You never call me!" he exclaimed happily to her. He didn't see her face twist into one of utter disgust.

"Is this why Leon wants you to live with him? you villainized me because you're a freak?" the smile on Hop's face immediately dropped.

"Wh...What?" why was she being so mean right now?

"If you want to act like a spoilt, ungrateful, disgusting child, then you can just stay with your brother, don't even think about coming back home after next month!" Hop winced and began to whimper, loudly. He was starting to remember times back home during school, body shaking, and tears began welling up in his eyes.

"M-Mama... I dunno what you're talking about..." Hop started hiccupping, getting worked up, which was loud enough to get Raihan's attention from the other room.

"Hey... everything okay Hop?" when he came in, he saw Hop's clear distress and mid meltdown, but... he also saw on the phone screen. He didn't hesitate to go and pull Hop into his arms and made him face towards him. His eyes slit dangerously when he looked at the woman.

"What the hell are you calling for?" he hissed out, the indignant look she had the gall to have at the moment.

"That the boy has 30 days to collect his shit and get out of my house since he decided to tell Leon that he's "miserable" living with me and Leon wants to take him in" taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Raihan proceeded to look back up at the woman with a calm, cold look in his eyes.

"Because you're proving right now that you're a rational person to live with at this moment, what, calling your youngest a freak and screaming about disowning him, I mean, clearly Leon's making the right call if this is how you act when he does something "wrong" Raihan stated.

"Also, you realize Rotom phones Automatically record all calls, received or forwarded right?" he asked her, stroking Hop's back.

"And you're all on Leon's plan? so, you may be able to delete this call off your phone, but it goes to his cloud Data?" well, that look of anger she had was now very slowly, changing to one of paling Horror as Raihan nodded.

"So even if you didn't agree to what I assume was a request of Custody Transfer, Leon can easily take all evidence to the courts and not just force custody but also you end up in prison or some big fucking legal trouble?" he was taking a bit too much enjoyment out of her looking more and more panicked.

"So, if I catch you calling this number and going the fuck off on Him that he has a meltdown? I'll tell Leon just HOW to access all recorded call data for him to report to the LSCBs, Now politely? Fuck off you cunt" he didn't give her a second to respond and just ended the call. Breathing out with a deep sigh he looked down at the shaking little in his lap.

"I'm sorry if I scared or upset you little guy" Hop looked up at him with tears dripping from his face.

"Do you want Lee little one?" Hop nodded as he began to hiccup louder and started bawling. Raihan gently hushed him, rubbing his back.

"He'll be home soon, okay?"

"Is... Is Mama really getting rid of me?" he whimpered out to Raihan.

"...I think so... But listen to me okay?" he sat him up, rubbing the tears away with his thumbs.

"It sounds like she's doing it because Leon feels you'd be safer with him and he brought that up to her, do you feel safer with your big brother?" he got a tiny little nod as Hop rubbed one of his hands over his eyes.

"If he asked you, would you want to stay with him?"

"Y...Yes"

"That's why she got so mean to you then because she feels like you're being mean to her and lying to your brother about feeling unsafe back home"

"But...But 'm not lying"

"We know you're not, but your ma doesn't think she's in the wrong or did anything bad to you, adults can be weird like that" he kissed Hop on the forehead and let him curl up against him.

"Can...Can I stay wif you an' Lee tonight?" he sniffed out.

"I don't think Leon will be upset if you wanted to snuggle him in bed tonight" as if on time, he could hear the door opening up and Leon's footsteps.

"Raihan?? Hop??" Leon called their names out. Removing Hop from himself, Raihan stood up and helped him stand up as well. Following him out, Hop looked up at his brother. Lips quivering, Hop let go of Raihan's hand and ran into his brother's arms, who braced for impact the moment he saw him.

"Hey... Hey what's the waterworks for?" concerned, Leon knelt down just enough to hug his brother.

"Well... Your mum called Hop and went off on him..." Raihan began, arms crossed. Eyes widening, Leon pulled his brother up into his arms as Hop wiped at his eyes.

"I didn't think she would... what did she?" Raihan waved his hand in a cutting motion, stopping him from asking any questions given how distraught Hop was. Nodding, he looked at Hop and frowned, whatever the hell she said... She forfeited the right for him to be anymore cordial with her than he was being for his brother's sake.

"I'll show you how to access your cloud data, but it's not pretty"

Raihan's words didn't give him any good feelings about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you think Raihan wouldn't know this, well, given the number of Selfies he takes, he'd know how they'd work.


	21. 20: The Decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of Block and creative issues with this chapter ;w; But I'm so happy I got through it!

Little hiccups and shuddering breaths escaped Hop, who was tightly curled up in Leon's arms, sleeping with an iron grip on Leon's shirt. He had listened to the call between his mother and brother, a numbing sensation running through him. He gave Hop a small kiss on his head, rubbing his back soothingly.

"Are you still going through on the Peaceful option?" Raihan asked in a hushed tone.

"As much as I can... I don't want to waste energy on being hostile and making it worse, but, hopefully, when I go down there, she'll have the decency to avoid me entirely during it" he commented.

"Just..." he gave a growl of frustration, only stopping when it was obviously upsetting Hop who whimpered and stirred.

"Shhh, shhh, I'm sorry sweetie" he cooed, patting the seat of his nappy with his other hand. Nuzzling his head into Leon's chest, Hop seemed to settle back down. Leaning back, he felt Hop position more into laying against his brother, using his chest as a pillow. Leon ran a thumb on Hop's cheek, making him softly hum in his sleep.

"I'll stay with him when you go to get his stuff" Leon leaned against Raihan.

"Thank you" 

"No problem, I already planned a bit of a playdate for him at the castle" well that was some good news? Leon looked up at him, questioning look.

"Playdate huh?"

"Yeah, Sis is coming with her girlfriend and Victor, Hop was pretty happy to know I could contact him kind of" he said with a light laugh. Smiling softly, Leon nodded to him.

"Hop wanted to stay with you tonight" that one wasn't too shocking at least. Sitting up, Leon held his brother a little closer to him as he stood up and went to his fridge, pulling out a bottle of water, only sitting back down when he put the bottle into Hop's mouth.

"That's fine, I want to talk to him anyway about moving in with me, but... I guess that's just going to happen now after this" He looked back down at Hop who was cuddled against him, suckling the bottle. Leaning back, he rubbed Hop's back who let out soft gurgles and hums as the bottle was pried from his mouth. Nuzzling against Leon more, Hop started stirring awake, eyes fluttering open.

"Lee..?" he mumbled sleepily, looking at up at his brother who was smiling softly.

"Hey baby boy, you feel better?" sitting up, Hop rubbed at his eyes.

"I...I think so Lee..." he looked down sadly, remembering what had happened.

"Hey, what she said, it's not true okay? You're a sweet little boy and she had no reason to be so mean to you" Leon stated, stroking Hop's cheek in a comforting manner. Sniffling softly, Hop wrapped his arms around Leon's neck, resting his head on his shoulder.

"'m not a disgusting freak?" he asked weakly of Leon who tightened his hug on him.

"No Sweetie, you're not, she was taking her anger out on you" Hop nodded, wiping his eyes.

"Now then Hop, do you want to stay with me from now on?" He had to sit Hop so they were looking at each other. Hop gave a small nod, feeling he would work himself up he answered why.

"Okay, while Sonia and I get your stuff, you're gonna stay with Raihan, that work for you?" he asked him.

"And play with Victor again?" adorable, Leon smiled as he bounced him a little.

"Yep! You can have your playdate, I don't want you near Mum after how she acted" Hop gave him a weak smile, hugging onto him.

"Let's get you into the shower and in your jams, I ordered take out for dinner and picked up a movie" well, Hop looked happy at the idea as he stood up, holding Leon's hand. Raihan watched them leave before he got his phone out.

Rai-Rai: So, Lee's taking custody of his brother and his mom agreed to it

GardenDragon: Reluctantly or right away?

Rai-Rai: Right away, then called Hop and went off about how she thought he was a disgusting freak so...

GardenDragon: Is he going to be okay when we come over?

Rai-Rai: He's still looking forward to this Saturday yeah, he might get a little emotional, but that's cause Lee's going to pack up Hop's stuff and be at the house

GardenDragon: Don't forget to block her number on his phone then

Rai-Rai: I'll do that yeah

The bath wasn't too long, Hop was sitting on the bed bouncing his Swablu plush up and down happily, just in his Nappy, and paci lanyard while Leon looked for PJs for him. He did manage to find a rather cute Blue-green shirt with a pastel yellow ruffled hem and onesie combo. White Stars and a Gigantimax Butterfree decorated the Shirt as well, Leon was going to have to ask Hop how he managed to get these adorable ass outfits in his size.

"This work for you?" he asked, holding it up, he nodded.

"I have slippers to go with it" he giggled out, hugging his plushie. Sitting on the bed next to him, He moved Hop's arms up.

"You sure do have some cute PJs Hop"

"Uh-Huh, I get 'em online or hafta make it from clothes at the store" he was smiling a little as the shirt was slipped over him and Leon pulled the flaps up to button the onesie up.

"You know how to sew?" oh the look on Hop's face when Leon asked him that, it just screamed "You're kidding right?" at him.

"We lived in a Wooloo farming town big brother, I don't think you can get away with not knowing a few things about knitting and Sewing, I mean, you made the blankets in here yourself" Leon gave an awkward laugh at that one.

"You know? Fair enough Little guy" sitting up while chewing on the paci, Hop half hung himself off the bed as he reached under and pulled out a storage box, opening to and pulling out slipper boots that did infact, match his PJs. He began to slip them on, happily wiggling on the bed.

"You're adorable you know that?" Leon asked, making Hop giggle. Sneaking closer, he put his hands on either side of his brother, before dropping Hop back-first onto the bed.

"Uh-Oh, looks like I have my little Butterfree trapped" Leon snickered before his fingers started dancing against Hop's sides, making him squeal with laughter.

"Leeeee!!" He managed to cry out through his peals of laughter, arms flailing and making little effort to stop the onslaught. When he did slow down, he laid on his side, leaving his little brother unable to stop his hard giggles while Hop curled in on himself, smiling at Leon before he scooched forward and hugged Leon tightly, pressing his face into his brother's chest.

"Thank you for being a really good big brother and papa" it was muffled, but the man heard it clearly. His look of surprise did soften, hugging Hop back just as firmly.

"and you're a very good baby brother and person sweetie, I'm sorry not everyone sees that, but I'll make sure you always know that from now on" Hop hugged onto him tighter, more to hide the tears as he smiled. He really did have a good big brother.


	22. Movie Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Chapter Contains Mentions of Alchohol use and Child abuse.

Chinese take out with an animated family movie did seem to do the trick with entertaining the three. Raihan watched with amusement as Leon was spoon-feeding Hop, who despite his weak protests, did seem to enjoy the attention. He happily drank from his sippy cup while watching the movie.

"Glad you chose the original animated movie, was not a fan of the Live-action remake, Belle's dress in it looked hideous"

"If I was going to choose Live action, I would have chosen a professional recording of the Broadway musical" Leon stated to him, making Hop giggle a little in response.

"I was in a Highschool production of a Disney Musical, it was... Interesting, kept hitting the props due to my height" Raihan said, making Leon choke on his food. Hop looked worried as he held his brother's cup up to him, which he took to get the food down, wheeze laughing right after.

"You kept, hitting your head?" He snickered out.

"I mean yeah, they had me on one of the Teacher's Rapidashes, since I was playing the prince" he told him, it just made Leon laugh harder.

"I didn't know you did plays" Hop said innocently.

"Yeeeeah, Kinda one reason Opal considered me as a replacement when I was a kid, she didn't cause obviously, I had the dragon type Preference" he laughed sheepishly.

"Speaking of, how's Bede adjusting anyway, you see him during research right Hop?" Leon asked.

"Uh-huh, he's usually pretty grumpy when I see him but, I think it's an act and he does like us, Zacie likes him" Leon and Raihan both blinked.

"Zacie...Zacie... You mean Zacian?" Leon asked, getting a nod in confirmation.

"Zama likes Bea and Allister, well, he likes everyone for the most part, 'cept Mum, Grandma, and Grandpa" Hop explained. That didn't bode well for the two.

"Uh... any reason why? aside from, well, the obvious?" Leon asked, worried they did something with the Pokemon around.

"He... Might have been outside of his ball when the three got drunk and started screaming at me and Grandpa threw an empty bottle of whiskey at me... But, But it's because I burned dinner!!" Hop tried to rationalize when he saw just how... dark the two men's expressions got.

"Hop, you could have told them to fuck off and that doesn't excuse trying to brain you with a Glass bottle" Raihan told him. God, how bad had they screwed this poor kid up?! Hop looked at his feet.

"Would they had done it if it was Leon who burned dinner?" he asked him. Wincing, Hop looked down.

"I dun think so, but he's kept everyone comfortable instead of having to struggle with bills and money so it's-

"Still not okay" Leon sighed before he pulled his brother into his lap, hugging him, just what hell did they put his brother through when he wasn't looking? Hop frowned, hiding against his brother, maybe his family was right to like Leon more than him if he was so easily tattling on them. Rubbing Hop's arm, Leon softly hummed to comfort his brother.

"Let's finish dinner and this movie and get our teeth brushed, Rai, you have a toothbrush?"

"Always carry hygienic stuff on me!" he told him. Sitting Hop back down, Leon let him finish his dinner as he rewound the movie to watch where they left off. Eating, Hop was now lost in thought, guilt ebbing at him. He curled up closer to Leon while eating his food. Leon and Raihan looked at each other in concern.

After he finished eating, Hop got up and made his way to the bathroom. Leon was about to get up to follow him, but Raihan held his arm out and shook his head. He looked at him, confused as Raihan got up.

"I have more idea about how to handle this one, no offense" he told him. Frowning, Leon did reluctantly agree with a nod, sitting back down. Making his way to the bathroom, Raihan saw Hop was just at the end of brushing his teeth, rinsing his mouth out, so he waited til he spat the water out to talk.

"Hey... You okay kiddo?" he asked, leaning on the door frame. Hop looked at him, giving a hollow smile.

"I just... didn't mean to upset you or Lee... I didn't even remember that night til you both asked..." his voice was soft when he said it. Kneeling, Raihan put a hand on his shoulder.

"You've repressed some the worst things they did haven't you?" looking at the floor, Hop nodded.

"When they get drunk they're really mean, they don't touch or get violent with me when they're sober, and it's not too often they drink to that point..." he stated.

"They... Sweetie, please stop defending them, even if they only get violent with you when drunk, it's still not okay" Raihan said gently. Hop poked his fingers together.

"I..." Hop didn't know how to respond exactly, Raihan just pulled him into a hug.

"Lee and I are just worried about you, you won't have to worry about being hurt like that here, okay?" he asked. Nuzzling into his shoulder, Hop nodded.

"Now, we have a movie to finish" he smiled pressing his forehead to Hop's, making him smile as he took his hand to follow him back to the living room. Sitting back down, Hop looked at Leon with a smile, hugging him. Smiling back, he let his brother settle closer to him and looked at Raihan with a silent "Thank you" to which he got a grin and thumbs up. They knew this wasn't going to go away, but keeping him happy before he could get into therapy was the least they could do.

"So you wanted to sleep with me tonight yeah?" Leon asked.

"Mm, dun wanna sleep alone" Hop admitted to him.

"Alright then, You can sleep with me tonight, don't forget your stuffie and a book while I'm getting ready for bed" the way Hop almost bounced happily was so cute, Raihan almost forgot he wasn't actually a little kid.

"Can we read Willow Wooloo and the Forest Birthday Party?" Hop asked Leon.

"Oh, a Fan of the Willow Wooloo and Yana Yamper?" Raihan inquired, Hop nodded.

"I collected all the books, Lee used to read them to me all the time! we even have some of the movies!" he stated excitedly.

"Lee even took me to meet the writer and illustrator to sign all my books"

"That was at Motostoke's Library right?" Raihan asked.

"Yeah, what I didn't realize is that they're Kabu's neighbor, really nice couple though" Leon laughed.

"I was there for that event myself because she also writes for my favorite comic series that her husband does the art for" He said.

"THEY MADE A COMIC?!" After nearly falling off of the couch, Leon couldn't help but laugh as he put a hand over Hop's mouth.

"Indoor voice sweetie, almost made me jump off the couch" Leon chuckled out, making Hop blush brightly as he settled back down.

"I can bring it over some time, I got the hardbacked Compilations for reading" seeing Hop look so excited was endearing as he nodded excitedly.

"I have to work tomorrow if you want to take Hop with you to Hammerlock, I'm sure you might have responsibilities there?" Leon asked.

"Oh, yeah I do, my trainers have done well keeping the smaller tasks taken care of, you want to come with me tomorrow?"

"Yah!!!" Hop sounded happy at the idea. Eating the rest of their dinner in peace, the movie was soon over, Hop got up and started going to his room.

"So, not to sound dramatic or anything Lee but uh... Are you going to cut your family off?" Raihan asked him now that Hop was gone.

"I don't think I can do that in good conscience, no matter how tempting it is... Financially anyway, I don't think I want to talk to them again after finding out they literally threw a glass bottle at my little brother..." he stated, tone utterly flat.

"Makes me wonder how the hell they'd respond to you dating another man"

"See, if it's Hop, they'd probably not give a damn, because clearly, he's less important to them, they might throw a whole ass tantrum over me though" he told him before sighing.

"The paperwork and Saturday cannot get here soon enough, Sonia's already agreed to Help me out with packing, said Nessa was coming too, which is good, gonna need extra help to get my shit out too"

"Sorry about all this Lee..."

"It's not your fault... Just... I feel like I failed pretty damn bad to not have picked up on any of this stuff and done anything beforehand, y'know?" he asked, leaning back.

"Yeah... you're here for him now though, so you are doing him right even if it's after the fact" Leon laid his head on Raihan's leg, looking at him.

"True... just means I need to give Hop a lot of missed out affection, easy to do, him being regressed or not, he's a sweetheart... Speaking of, how was the amusement park?"

"It was fun, we did Run into Gordie and Piers at the Cafe during breakfast, and Hop's pretty good at the games and won quite a few stuffies for his collection"

"I noticed that with the Swablu stuffie"

"Yeah, said it reminded him of Victor"

"Speaking of" twisting himself around to be on his stomach, he looked at Raihan.

"Is it just your sister's girlfriend coming, or?"

"Oh, no, Jaz is coming too, She wanted to bring over some berry bushes to implant into my private garden and show me how to take care of them, Serenity was gonna stay in and keep an eye on the boys"

"So, realistically, I can meet your big sister"

"Yeah? Sis wanted to stay for at least a week or two" he laughed.

"Is she going to like me?"

"I sure hope so, otherwise that's gonna suck" that made Leon chortle in amusement before he rolled off the couch and got to his feet, didn't need to keep his brother waiting after all.


End file.
